The Real Real

May 18, 2009
Long Island girl Jesse O’Rourke is a down-to-earth Have-Not among the glamorous, vacuous Haves at Hampton High. But all this changes when she’s one of the lucky six chosen to star in a reality-TV show called The Real Hampton Beach
. From the authors of The Nanny Diaries
, this first venture into YA functions as a reality-TV exposé about how the genre corrupts those who play along—even a regular girl like Jesse. For $40,000 toward college, Jesse risks everything—her best friendship, dignity, values, respect from her parents and even getting the right guy—as TV producers stage ridiculous, fake situations for these high school “stars” that lead to humiliation, backstabbing and other shock-value fare. And things only get worse once the show airs (“Must
stop looking every time someone calls my name,” thinks Jesse after passersby harass her while she’s picking up the mail.) Though the endgame payback lacks punch—its purpose is to set up a sequel—with this lighter-than-air page-turner the authors deliver a fast-paced, fun read. Ages 14–up.

July 1, 2009
Gr 9 Up-Teens will revel in the juiciness of this fictional exposé. In "The Nanny Diaries" (St. Martins, 2002), McLaughlin and Kraus took on the world of the rich and neurotic. In their first novel for teens, they expose the malicious underbelly of the reality-TV industry. When Jesse ORourke gets chosen to be part of the cast of a new documentary series, "The Real Hampton Beach", about seniors dealing with the real world and real issues, she has considerable reservations, but the offer of $40,000 in college tuition is too good to turn down. It sounds easy enoughpretend to be best friends with people you despise, wear designer clothes you cannot afford, and give up any semblance of privacyright? If only it were that simple. Between the phony friendships, the staged fights, and the product placements, Jesse can no longer differentiate between whats real and what looks good on television. She and the other players are just pawns in the networks moneymaking game. However, that changes when Jesse gets dirt on the networks president of programming. Now they have the upper hand and can finally regain control over their lives. This book is far more entertaining than most of the so-called reality programs on television. The authors have a natural ability for digging up the dirt and bringing it to the surface."Robyn Zaneski, New York Public Library"

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