Julia

June 1, 2000
Gr 6-9-Birthday parties provide the glue that holds these novels together. Deceptions and lies abound with no real consequences. Both books are dialogue driven, written in choppy, short sentences with very little description or character development. When Lucy's family moves during the middle of the school year, she decides to take this opportunity to redefine herself. Lucy's former "goth" guise sported bizarre hair color, black clothing, and only friends from the fringe. Her new look is prep, complete with pearls, natural hair color, and country-club friends. She assumes a third personality as a college sophomore. The lies she must tell and the juggling of activities ultimately lead to her downfall on the night of three very different sweet-16 parties where her attendance is expected. Told in alternating chapters and diary entries by Julia and Maggie, Julia is a modern-day, female version of The Prince and the Pauper. The two girls meet in the restroom of the Department of Motor Vehicles where they have both gone on their mutual 16th birthday to get their driver's licenses. What a shock to look into the eyes of a total stranger and see oneself reflected. On a whim, the teens decide to switch places and attend each other's birthday parties with the hopes of finding a situation better than the one they are leaving behind. Neither the conversations nor the situations really ring true. Both titles read like scripts for made-for-TV movies.-Lynda Short, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Lexington, KY

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