Dream Girl

July 21, 2008
The coauthor of the 10th-Grade Social Climbers series, Mechling brings a lively awareness of girl-on-girl dynamics to this light mystery. There’s also an extrasensory twist—the heroine, the haplessly named Claire Voyante, has visions, although she rarely knows what to make of them. On Claire’s 15th birthday, her grandmother—a showgirl who married well—presents her with an old necklace, saying, “When I wore , all my dreams started to come true.” Claire is so busy adjusting to her ultra-competitive new school, however, that neither the necklace nor the dreams she begins having make much impact on her. The story hinges on Claire’s friendship with Becca Shutterworth, a fabulously rich new classmate; Becca’s attractive older brother serves as Claire’s heartthrob, and his devious girlfriend helps carry out a nefarious scheme targeting the Shutterworth family. While the mystery element is too obvious and readers may grow impatient for Claire’s visions to affect the plot, the foundation is solid—the majority of Mechling’s main characters seem both cheerfully idiosyncratic and recognizable, well-observed denizens of the Manhattan setting who deliver plenty of entertainment. Ages 12–up.