The Break-Up Diaries

April 11, 2011
Simone (Upgrade U) and debut author London kick off a new series with a pair of drama-fueled stories about girls looking for love in all the wrong ways. Set in Atlanta, Simone's "Hot Boyz" follows the charmed life of 16-year-old Chanceâthe pampered daughter of a DA and a CEOâwho prefers partying with her Thick-n-Juicy clique in edgier neighborhoods; when she meets college senior Ahmad, she pretends she is 18, which brings plenty of trouble. In London's "The Boy Trap," head cheerleader and schemer Gabrielle, aka "Easy Breezy," is dumped by a popular basketball player, only to latch on to a new one, Tyler, as she tries to fulfill her goal of snagging a future NBA player and living the easy life. Readers won't doubt that everything will work out in the end (even after Gabrielle nearly poisons Tyler after she tries to stimulate his libido with ginseng), which it does in very tidy, message-heavy endings. Opportunities for genuine growth get lost amid dialogue and characters that aim for authenticity but simply feel clichéd. Ages 14âup.

April 15, 2011

Lessons, frenemies and posturing abound in this pair of novelette-length bittersweet romances featuring African-American teens.

Simone's (Shortie Like Mine, 2008) "Hot Boyz" stars confident 16-year-old Chance, who prefers Atlanta's rougher Bankhead neighborhood to her rich mother's gated community. After catching her "trial run" boyfriend cheating at a Bankhead club, Chance meets her "chocolate knight," the handsome, hard-to-get and, as it turns out, 22-year-old Ahmad. As their romance deepens, Chance becomes guiltily entangled in the lies she tells both her friends and Ahmad about their respective ages until, inevitably, a somewhat contrived string of bad decisions brings the truth to light. In debut author London's "Boy Trap," head cheerleader Gabrielle, aka Easy Breezy, plans to follow in her mother's footsteps: snag an NBA-bound high-school basketballer, "trap" him by having sex and guarantee herself a future as a millionaire. But Tyler, the baller on whom she sets her sights, won't take the bait. As Breezy's disturbingly manipulative schemes escalate, so do Tyler's often didactic admonishments: "First, you have to be good enough for yourself." The language in both stories is fresh and appealing, filled with contemporary slang, wordplay and censor-friendly modified curses ("Oh, hello!"), and each protagonist's pride has enough cracks to let the reader in.

Fun, if heavy-handed. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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August 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Readers of teen urban fiction will love these two preachy but engaging novellas about love gone wrong. Both feature African-American teens who learn lessons about telling the truth and being themselves. In Simone's "Hot Boyz," high-maintenance but lovable 16-year-old Chance lies about her age to date Ahmad, 22. All but ignored by her wealthy parents, she prefers staying at her grandmother's house and spending time with her friends in their Atlanta neighborhood. When her lies have terrible consequences for Ahmad, Chance realizes the error of her ways. The story has action, romance, and plenty of teen slang. In London's "The Boy Trap," Breezy is an even more self-centered teen intent on trapping a future NBA star so she sets her sights on newcomer Tyler and decides to seduce him. Breezy is sure that if she can marry him and have his babies, she will share in his eventual fame and fortune. Ultimately, however, her gold-digger ways cause grief, and she realizes that she needs to succeed on her own terms. While the lessons imparted by both stories are not subtle, the main characters are memorable, there are plenty of plot twists and turns, and readers will enjoy the pop culture and fashion references. Teens who loved the "Drama High" series (Dafina) and Simone's full-length novels will definitely reach for this book.-Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Unified School District

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