Rumor Central

March 18, 2013
Pride goes before the fall, and 17-year-old Maya Morgan is entitlement personified in this first book in the Rumor Central series. Maya and her rich, glamorous, and spoiled friends are the subjects of Miami Divas, a drama- and luxury-fueled reality TV show in the vein of the Real Housewives franchise, until Maya is offered a TMZ-style show of her own. She takes the job, alienating her former costars and getting dumped by her boyfriend. On Rumor Central, Maya is paid to dish the dirt on celebrities and the elite circles she runs in; unlike in Gossip Girl, though, everyone knows who Maya is, making her an instant target. Maya’s loose lips and all-around “divatude” lead to arrests, anonymous threats, and failing grades, building to some inevitable wake-up calls. Billingsley’s dialogue is on point, and while few teens’ realities resemble Maya’s, the point of this guilty pleasure is wish fulfillment, sensationalistic scandal, and snappy one-liners. While the story holds few surprises, fans of Ni-Ni Simone, Nikki Carter, and Kelli London should eat up the drama and bad behavior. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sara Camilli Agency.

April 15, 2013
In a fast-moving mean-girl story with a dash of suspense, a teen television star is asked to dish dirt on her well-connected friends. Fabulous Maya Morgan and her friends star in a reality show called Miami Divas. Then the network decides to cancel Miami Divas and offers Maya a host spot on a new show, Rumor Central, where she will both interview the likes of Nicki Minaj and share celebrity gossip. When Maya's new gig drives a wedge between her and her former co-stars, she decides any of her ex-friends' secrets are fair game. Results are predictable but compelling: The studio is thrilled, but the subjects of the gossip get hurt, and both Maya's parents and her school are believably concerned. Most dramatically, someone begins sending Maya threatening messages, and the book's climax sees her uncover her stalker's identity and fend off an attack. Although much of the book's pleasure resides in watching the drama unfold, the action also raises some thought-provoking questions: To what extent is Tamara, Maya's closest contact at WSVV-TV, on her side? Who is more to blame for the gossip show's fallout: Maya, for betraying confidences, or the studio, for pressuring her to do so? A well-constructed take on the pleasures and pitfalls of fame. (Fiction. 12-16)

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