The A-List

September 22, 2003
This debut novel may be just the ticket for Gossip Girls fans. Perennial good girl Anna Percy ("Anna had yet to do one truly nasty thing") moves from New York City to her father's mansion in Los Angeles determined to reinvent herself. Things seem to be going well when the 17-year-old meets—and makes out with—handsome Princeton student Ben Birnbaum on the plane. Even better, he invites her to the New Years Eve wedding that night of a famous actor, Jackson Sharpe. But when her father fails to pick her up at the airport, Anna's new glamorous life takes a downward turn, made much worse when she meets Ben's nasty friends at the wedding. Covering a four-day period, the author cycles through various perspectives, from Anna to Ben's friends, including Jackson Sharpe's insecure daughter Sam, and Sam's friends, cruel Cammie and ditsy Dee, all of whom secretly attempt to land Ben for their own. Readers will likely be caught up in the glamorous world created here, full of fancy cars, decadent parties and designer clothes (Sam has designer's assistants "to help with the selection process"). But, while Dean raises some intriguing plot points (Why did Ben abandon Anna on his father's yacht? Why is a former child prodigy now driving Anna's father's car? Will Anna's sister check herself out of rehab?), the audience may be frustrated by all the loose ends that point strongly to a sequel, if only by way of explanation. Ages 15-up.

January 1, 2004
Gr 9 Up-Moving from Manhattan's elite world to "Hollyweird" presents Anna with quite a culture shock, but one that she's ready for. White gloves and tea give way to her drugged-out dad in the gazebo and a Hollywood celebrity's wedding where she is introduced to Ahi rolls. She discovers that all is not without controversy in LaLa land, and that beautiful girls are not always welcome in the inner circle, especially those who pick up the hunk whom all the insiders are lusting after. After surviving the evil competitors, bad yogurt, and a vengeful seatmate on the plane, Anna proves that gorgeous good girls can, and do, survive in L.A. All of those nasty, high-society types that populate the "Gossip Girl" series (Little, Brown) can be found here in bikinis and Oakleys instead of wool pashminas and Blahnik boots. Unfortunately, this book tries to be more than the others of its genre by making frequent use of words and phrases that don't fit the beach-baby scene, such as "-she wasn't one to snivel over the vagaries of her own existence." Fans of the series will flock to this book, but they may be a tad disappointed with the replay.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.