Private

July 24, 2006
When Reed leaves her troubled Pennsylvania home and begins posh Easton Academy as a scholarship student, she immediately attracts the attention of cute senior Thomas Pearson. She also quickly comes to the attention of the popular Billings Girls, who can be nice, mean or indifferent towards her, depending on the day. Reed puts up with their behavior knowing that if she "could just enter that inner sanctum, every door at Easton would open up to me." Keeping up academically proves a challenge, but Reed also faces other tests, such as stealing an exam for the Billings Girls—or figuring out why they warn her about her now-boyfriend, Thomas, who has his own connections to their circle. The set-up seems scripted and the Billings Girls themselves are stereotypical (Noelle is the Alpha girl, Taylor is the brain, etc.), but Reed is more complex than most of this genre's narrators. She has an abusive mother "who likes pills with her bourbon," and admits that her connection to Thomas, the son of alcoholics, is partly due to finding "someone who understood." Of course, when Thomas accuses her of using him to get to the Billings Girls, he is somewhat right about that, too. The conclusion leaves plenty of questions—including where Thomas has disappeared to. Readers will no doubt eagerly await the next installment in Brian's (The Virginity Club
) Private series, Invitation Only
, due out this fall. Ages 14-up.

August 1, 2006
Gr 8 Up -Reed Brennan is nervous as she begins her sophomore year as a transfer student at prestigious Easton Academy. All of the other students are richer than she could ever believe, and she immediately finds that she -s in way over her head academically. She determines that she -ll do anything to keep from flunking out and going back to her dreary home. Reed aspires to be just like the beautiful and brilliant girls who live in the luxurious Billings dorm, but she has little hope of ever being accepted into that elite crowd. Somehow, though, she edges in and barely notices their cruelty because she -s so grateful to be tossed the crumbs of their kindness. Although her experiences could have resulted in nine months of insight, the teen doesn -t seem to make much progress in understanding herself or the larger world around her. The story has major gaps in plot development and background. Too many elements are left hanging or unexplained, such as why Reed can -t empathize at all with her mother -s pain-killer addiction following a long-ago accident, her lack of a relationship with her brother, her oddly unemotional loss of virginity, and any sort of character development in the Billings girls. Readers might feel as if they -ve missed the first 10 minutes of a 30-minute TV show, and the ending is choppy and unsatisfying. Steer readers to Brian -s earlier (and better-written) titles." -Susan Riley, Mount Kisco Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.