Being Audrey Hepburn

July 21, 2014
Lisbeth is a Jersey girl who works at a local diner but dreams of a glamorous New York City life à la Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Her best friend Jess, who has an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, surprises Lisbeth with the chance to try on Hepburn’s famous Givenchy dress, and Lisbeth’s world changes as Manhattan’s rich and famous mistake her for one of their own at a Met gala. Thus begins a whirlwind of celebrity party-hopping for Lisbeth, with aspiring designer Jess updating Lisbeth’s grandmother’s vintage wardrobe behind the scenes. As Lisbeth worries that she’ll be found out, she has less and less time for family, friends, and Jake, the boy she’s flirting with back home. First-time novelist Kriegman (creator of Clarissa Explains It All) hits all the right notes for breezy escapist fiction—Manhattan glamour, glitzy parties, couture designs, and the name-dropping that goes with them. Yet as the stakes grow higher, Kriegman neglects Lisbeth’s New Jersey life (much as Lisbeth herself does). By the time she realizes she’s “forgotten about Jake,” readers may have forgotten him, too. Ages 14–up. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House.

August 15, 2014
A standard Cinderella tale is enhanced with a detailed sense of reality amid the wish fulfillment. For years, 19-year-old Lisbeth has escaped her dysfunctional family and bland New Jersey life by watching Audrey Hepburn movies, lost in the glamour and elegance. When her best friend, Jess, an assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, shows her an early version of the legendary Givenchy dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lisbeth has to try it on-and even crashes a gala full of Wall Streeters and celebutantes in it. Thanks to her grandmother's vintage dresses and Jess' design genius, Lisbeth makes a huge splash in the Manhattan social scene, where she can parlay her knowledge of fashion and Audrey expertise into a new life, one where she's friends with pop princess Tabitha Eden and attracts the attention of rich, gorgeous ZK Northcott. But this new life is full of mysterious circumstances and people that Lisbeth just doesn't understand-and an enemy she doesn't realize she's made. In the end, Lisbeth will need to determine what matters most: her new life or those who know the real her. Characterization is the strength in this title, which flirts with the new-adult label. The plot is somewhat overstuffed, but Lisbeth's journey carries the novel. Ideal for Audrey fans or anyone who wants to escape the mundane. (Fiction. 16 & up)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Lisbeth is a 19-year-old Jersey girl who feels trapped. With a troubled home life, the teen spends her days working at a rundown diner (The Hole) with her best friend, Jess, and her crush, Jake. While Jess and Jake have ambitions that will get them out of The Hole, the only thing Lisbeth knows is that she isn't interested in becoming a nurse practitioner, like her mom plans for her. The protagonist's only real interests are Audrey Hepburn, gossip magazines, and Page Six party photos. While helping Jess at her second job, as an intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lisbeth gets a chance to try on the original Breakfast at Tiffany's dress made for Hepburn. The dress leads her on a journey that she could have never imagined. While the teen is relatable and likable, despite being incredibly superficial, the other characters are drawn with broad strokes that border on stereotypes. Kriegman treats underage drinking and driving while intoxicated lightly, and ignores the existence of IP addresses and hungry paparazzi. Teens that loved Cecily von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girl" series (Little, Brown) will be able to overlook these flaws, and will love to live vicariously through Lisbeth.-Amanda Augsburger, Moline Public Library, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Lisabeth has no real plans after high school, other than to somehow get away from Jersey and her dysfunctional family. There are a few bright spots: her grandmother, Nan; her best friend, Jess; and fellow diner waiter and aspiring rock star, Jake. And Audrey Hepburn. For years, Lizzy has been watching Hepburn movies, especially Breakfast at Tiffany's, and wishing she could incorporate elements of Hepburn's life into hers. And then it happens. Jess, an aspiring fashion designer, is interning at the Met, and in a dizzying turn of events, Lisabeth winds up wearing Hepburn's iconic black Tiffany dress at a Met gala. Suddenly, she is the new NYC It Girl, chumming up with celebrities and trust-fund babies, all the while establishing herself as a blogging fashionista, wearing Jess' fabulous designs, some reworked from Nan's designer dresses. Though Nan is a delightful character, the weak link here is the subplot about her history. Otherwise, this is a fun romp: witty writing, passion and fashion, and oodles of Audrey. A perfect cure for the mean reds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)