Don't You Wish

June 15, 2012
An unsatisfying blend of science fiction and Gossip Girl marks St. Claire's young adult debut. Annie Nutter is so invisible no one notices or cares when their backpacks hit her in the face as they climb on the school bus. After her mother reveals that Annie's father could have been Jim Monroe, the billionaire owner of a chain of plastic-surgery clinics, Annie wonders if she'd trade her own father, an inventor with wacky ideas, for a different life. Predictably, one of her father's inventions sends Annie into another universe. Now Annie Nutter is Ayla Monroe: rich, beautiful and A-list. Ayla's friends are shallow shoplifters, and her hot boyfriend just wants sex; Jim Monroe is a mustache-twirling villain. Then Annie falls for Charlie Zelinsky, a genius who was homeless for a short time. The author tries to ground the creaky body-swap concept in real science: When Charlie learns and accepts Annie's story, he implausibly uses physics and long explanations to replicate her father's invention. Of course, this makes Annie question whether she should stay or go. Heavy-handed exposition, flat characters and trite dialogue don't elevate this outing past forgettable. (Science fiction/chick-lit. 14-17)

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August 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Awkward Annie Nutter is tormented by the rich, popular kids whom she both envies and reviles at Pittsburgh's South Hills High. Her home life isn't any better: her brother is annoying, her father is a failed inventor, and her realtor mother has just discovered that the med student she could have married is now a billionaire in Miami. One stormy night, when trying out her dad's latest invention, Annie gets zapped into an alternate universe in which her mother is married to the former med student and she's Ayla Monroe, the rich, beautiful queen bee of a ritzy private school. At first she enjoys the perks of her status, but eventually she realizes that her so-called friends are shallow, she feels nothing for her jerky boyfriend, her new dad is a womanizer, and her mom is miserable. In a satisfying feel-good twist, the school's brilliant but bullied scholarship student helps her get back to her old world as they fall in love. There is plenty here that readers will find compelling. Unfortunately, cartoonish stereotypes of socioeconomic groups (rich people are horrible; poor people have hearts of gold); a plot that moves forward largely by way of lucky coincidences; and some problematic treatment of race (Ayla's ethnically ambiguous best friend is ridiculously described as "a little bit of everything-Asian, Hispanic, black, white, with some island flair thrown in for added spice.") make this novel more of a light read than the deeper exploration of identity, family relationships, and society it strives to be.-Riva Pollard, American Indian Public Charter School, Oakland, CA

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