Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe

April 16, 2012
Soon after being crowned queen of the Mistletoe Ball, high school junior Chloe Camden is snubbed by her fellow A-listers due to rumors spread by her ex–best friend. But that isn’t Chloe’s only problem. Fights between her mother and independent-minded grandmother have escalated, and Chloe’s school counselor wants her to join the staff of KDRS, the school’s flailing radio station. Instead of wallowing in her misery, outspoken, energetic Chloe goes into high gear, frantically trying to mend the broken parts of her life. She throws her heart into saving the radio station, and when she learns to “shut up and listen” as the host of a new radio talk show, she gains significant insight into her own shortcomings and the struggles of her peers, whose lives are just as complicated and painful as her own. Debut novelist Coriell shows sparkling wit and great skill in creating complex characters with memorable personalities. Chloe’s emotional growth is believable, and her attraction to a quiet, mysterious boy at the radio station adds spice and tension to the story. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jill Corcoran, the Herman Agency.

March 15, 2012
In an upbeat, by-the-book romance, a popular girl shunned by her two best friends finds a home among the misfits at the school's radio station. Just after Chloe's best friends stop speaking to her, A. Lundgren, guidance counselor, calls loud, big-hearted Chloe into her office to discuss her JISP--junior independent study project. A combination of mishaps and negligence on Chloe's part leads Lundgren to assign Chloe a JISP topic. Chloe finds herself in a portable classroom with shy freshmen Frick and Frack, hostile Clementine, music-obsessed Taysom, pregnant Haley and unexpectedly cute Duncan. Her mission: promote the school's underfunded radio station or fail junior year. Using marketing skills learned from her work at Dos Hermanas Mexican Cantina and her natural gift for gab, Chloe turns the radio station around by hosting a call-in advice show. The story hits a few false notes: The rumors Brie spreads are particularly vicious but evaporate quickly; the radio show takes off a bit too suddenly to be believed; and could one teenager really own that many pairs of glam vintage shoes? But the lighthearted tone, familiar plot and occasional poignant moments between Chloe and her similarly headstrong grandmother will carry readers through. Formulaic fluff with a winning personality. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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June 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Chloe Camden is an outgoing junior with a penchant for vintage shoes. Her humor shines from the very first scene, where readers are introduced to her as she dances around in a burrito costume to advertise a Mexican restaurant in her southern California home. She loves the attention that the silly outfit gets her. Chloe has lost her two best friends of many years (they think that she's too self-centered), her new guidance counselor tells her to design a better independent student project (JIAP) or else, and her mother and grandmother are engaged in World War III. Okay, she deals with being friendless, but she is opposed to working for the school radio station, which is on the verge of going off air, for her JISP. However, eventually she finds a new group of friends at the station, including dragonlike Clem and a possible romantic interest, Duncan, and she is encouraged to use her outgoing personality for an on-air talk show, Chloe, Queen of the Universe. This is fun, lighthearted chick-lit that touches on drug abuse and tough family issues. Coriell uses Chloe's sunny outlook to show how the teen perseveres through difficulties. ("I couldn't imagine a life without laughter and friends and fun.") Romance, personal growth, and friendships are central to the story line. A quick, enjoyable read.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA

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