Oh Yeah, Audrey!

August 18, 2014
Sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley sneaks off to New York City to meet friends she only knows from a joint Tumblr page devoted to their passion for Audrey Hepburn. Now they’re meeting in person for the first time in a day of Hepburn-inspired fun. The arrival of Dusty, a gorgeous music industry scion Gemma has been flirting with for weeks, upends Gemma’s and her new friends’ big day as he steals Gemma away with seductive promises of romance—and an actual Hepburn dress. Audrey may be the center of just about everyone’s attention in Shaw’s (Anxious Hearts) story, but it’s really about friendship, shared dreams, and the lonelier and less glamorous side of Holly Golightly. The question of what, exactly, men gave Holly money for in Breakfast at Tiffany’s hangs over the novel, paving the way for a direct lesson in sexual consent as Gemma’s whirlwind romance sours and she realizes she’s abandoned her friends. These and other lessons land fairly heavily and sit uneasily against the giddy fun of the rest of the book. Ages 13–up.

September 1, 2014
A teen blogger obsessed with Audrey Hepburn organizes a magical weekend for fellow Breakfast at Tiffany's fans. Sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley is no Holly Golightly. But for one weekend, she is determined to approximate the famous character's glamorous life by inviting followers of her Oh Yeah, Audrey! blog to join her for a midnight screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's in New York City. For two days, Gemma hopes to forget about life in the cramped Philly apartment she shares with her lonely father after her mother's recent death. Gemma is thrilled to meet her online friends Bryan and Trina in front of Tiffany's jewelry store, but their detailed agenda is soon derailed when another Oh Yeah, Audrey! fan tells them about an auction of Audrey Hepburn's clothes and memorabilia. At the auction, Gemma connects with a wealthy boy named Dusty who is also a follower of her blog, and he ends up purchasing her one of Audrey's iconic dresses. But after ditching her friends for Dusty, Gemma is left asking herself some hard questions about integrity, including, is this what Audrey would do? Gemma is correct in informing readers that if they have watched the film Breakfast at Tiffany's, "the rest of this story will make a lot more sense," but it's not a necessity. Any teen who's ever dreamed big or worshipped a star from afar will relate to this lightweight but nonetheless enchanting novel about identity and self-worth. (Fiction. 12-15)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Trying to cope with the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Beasley, a girl from Philadelphia, finds solace in her Tumblr blog, "Oh yeah, Audrey," entirely dedicated to Audrey Hepburn. When Gemma plans a trip with friends Bryan and Trina (whom she met through her blog), things are not quite what she imagined. The three friends are determined to live out a day of Holly Golightly's life from Breakfast at Tiffany's with New York City as their backdrop. All is well until a girl who has been flaming the blog shows up unexpectedly, and a handsome playboy named Dusty, whom Gemma has been helping with his Audrey Hepburn report via her blog, crashes the party as well. Gemma is swept up in a world of glamour and frivolity and has moments that help her forget about her very real grief. Readers will come away with the sense that everyone handles grief differently and that it is unhealthy to run away from problems. Though the story had true potential, it gets lost in the romance novel tropes, gay male stereotypes, and all the kitsch of a sitcom laugh track. Oh Yeah, Audrey falls short of wowing the way the real Audrey Hepburn did throughout her iconic career. -Krishna Grady, Darien Library, CT

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