The Insiders

June 7, 2004
Designed to resemble a Gossip Girl entry, this enticingly trashy entrant into the yearly teen beach read sweepstakes attempts to do for lower Manhattan what the Cecily von Ziegesar books have done for the Upper East Side. Fashion-obsessed private high-schooler Jonathan is less than thrilled when his mother strong-arms him into taking his "country" cousin Kelli (she's visiting from St. Louis) to his friend's party. To Jonathan's surprise and eventual horror, high-energy, Bubblicious-chomping Kelli uses her "Mickey-Mouse-Club-gone-bad" good looks to work her way through his crew of four male buddies and nearly destroys all their relationships in the process. As if that weren't enough, in the single week of her stay, 17-year-old Kelli becomes downtown's newest "It" girl (and makes a triumphal detour to South Beach, too), palling around with models and artists, and even chatting with Calvin Klein. Although the series hangs on the boys—the author is the guys-point-of-view columnist for Seventeen
— Kelli's on- and offscreen actions are responsible for nearly all the wit and fun here. A somewhat tacked-on subplot has the boys searching for their coolest friend, who seems to have gone missing. Up-to-the-minute music and fashion references (price tags included) and a thorough knowledge of downtown locales flavor the boys' picaresque meanderings from party to art opening to restaurant to after-hours club and back again, not to mention the obligatory pilgrimage to Barneys. Ages 14-up.

June 1, 2004
Gr 9 Up-Jonathan and his friends navigate their way through the wealthy, artsy side of Manhattan, and readers get to experience what it's like to be young and foolish and think you're in love. Parties, ridiculously expensive men's shoes (for a change), and spontaneous trips to South Beach define this group of boys and the girls who hang with them. Cecily von Ziegesar's wildly popular "Gossip Girl" series (Little, Brown) has spawned another knockoff, but, unfortunately, this one doesn't have the style and excitement to hold readers. Perhaps it's the teens' lack of cattiness or the fact that readers can't connect with these young men who spend their time wandering from party to party. The rampant drinking and sex may appeal to some teens, but most will be disappointed in the end, and won't care about or really have any interest in these characters and their wasted lifestyle.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2004
Gr. 9-12. Written by the author of "Ben's Life," the guys'-point-of-view column in " Sev"enteen magazine, this flimsy novel borrows its formula from Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girls series: upper-class Manhattan teens flirt, party heavily, feud with their friends, and spend their laughably self-absorbed parents' money. Here, though, the characters are mostly boys, the parties have more casualties and more drugs, and the flirting more often leads to sex. The thin plot centers around rich, shoe-obsessed high-schooler Jonathan, who shares the narration with a third-person voice in alternating chapters. After Jonathan's cousin Kelli arrives from St. Louis for the week, trysts, jealousies, and out-of-control parties break out among his group of friends (the Insiders). As in the Gossip Girls books, designer labels, cultural references, and the half-hearted intrigue of "who's-with-whom" drive the plot, which is as one-dimensional as its characters. Why consider this for purchase? Because, as with the popular Gossip Girls titles, teens will probably want it for the guilt-free escapism and glamour. The open ending promises a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)