Stripped

September 22, 2014
In a book that flips over to offer the same story from two perspectives, Gottesfeld kicks off the Stripped series, written at a fourth-grade reading level, about teens living and striving for the good life in Las Vegas. After Kaylee loses her cleaning job and is evicted from her drug-addicted aunt’s apartment, the teenager leaves Los Angeles for Sin City. She quickly meets some supportive, equally down-on-their-luck friends and finds herself in the good graces—and employ—of Alana, whose father owns a lavish hotel and casino on the strip. A subplot about local bloggers threatening to reveal Kaylee’s backstory and bring down Alana’s father feels over the top, but readers seeking glitzy plotlines and some good-hearted young people to root for should be satisfied. Also available: Wedding Bell Blues, Independence Day, and Show Down on the Strip. Ages 15–up.

November 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-A hi-lo series opener about older teens living in Las Vegas. Eighteen-year-old Alana, the daughter of a billionaire hotelier, and Kaylee, the new girl in town with a mysterious past, play the leading roles in this volume. This "flipbook" is told from two points of view; at the completion of one young woman's story, readers can flip the book over to read about the events from the other protagonist's perspective. The plot is simple: Alana feels pressure to impress her father with the launch of Teen Tower, and Kaylee, recently homeless, has bright ideas on how to make the project a success. Alana offers Kaylee a job as her personal assistant in return for round-the-clock access to Kaylee's creativity. But will Alana's father and friends ever truly accept Kaylee? The most satisfying parts occur when teens get an inside look into what happened offstage in the other point of view, such as Kaylee's trip to the Hoover Dam with Ellison. Some scenes that were already described in detail in the previous girl's vantage point are accelerated in the following story. Despite this, there is still too much repetition of events and dialogue. Characters appearing briefly may come across as stereotypical, particularly the Japanese spa workers and Zoey's two moms. Meg Cabot's Airhead series (Scholastic) is only slightly more challenging to read and is the safer bet for satisfying fans of the glam-girl genre.-Alison O'Reilly Poage, formerly at Cutchogue New Suffolk Free Library, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 There are two sides to every story, and readers get both in this sizzling new series set in Las Vegas. Kaylee Ryan is a fierce survivor who can handle anything life throws her way. Evicted after her aunt spends the rent money on meth, Kaylee decides to try her luck on the Strip. A chance encounter lands her a job as hotel heiress Alana Skye's personal assistant, but Kaylee will need to hide her hard scrabble past from her new boss. Alana, despite her fortune, doesn't have it much easier. Lacking her father's head for business, she is failing her first big assignment (opening Skye Hotel's Teen Tower), but Kaylee's ideas might be enough to save her. Rapid pacing, suspense, and hints of romance propel both stories, bound back-to-back so readers finish one before flipping the book to start the other. Vegas' grit and glamour figure prominently in these stories, which will draw struggling readers as well as anyone looking for an airy, beach-ready confection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)