My Double Life

August 23, 2010
When ambitious Alexia Garcia is given the opportunity to work as a double for rock star Kari Kingsley, to whom she bears a strong resemblance, she hesitates at first, not wishing to disappoint her protective mother, who struggles to provide for her and warns her about the pitfalls of fame ("Your self-respect shouldn't have a price tag"). But after meeting with Kari, she realizes that Kari's musician father, Alex Kingsley, is also her own absentee father. Resentful of her mother's secrecy and determined to meet him, Alexia packs her bags for Hollywood, where she trains to be Kari and falls in love with Kari's hot nemesis, singer Grant Delray. Unfortunately, Grant believes she is Kari, as does the press, which reports that Kari is cheating on her boyfriend. Alexia's voice offers an appealing mix of compassion and street smarts, as she struggles with her role as imposter and how to find her authentic self, making Rallison's (How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend) Cinderella-perfect ending to this frothy journey all the more gratifying. Ages 12–up.

September 1, 2010

Gr 7-10-Half-Latina Alexia Garcia lives in Morgantown, WV, with her mother, a hotel housekeeping supervisor, and her grandmother. Now 18, she has long wondered about the identity of her father. After seeing Lexi's picture on the web, rock star Kari Kingsley's publicist asks Lexi to play Kari in concerts so she can complete an album. The reason that the teens so closely resemble one another is gradually revealed: they have the same father, a famous musician who was attracted to Lexi's mother because she reminded him of his deceased first wife and never knew she had his child. Although Lexi doubts the ethics of subbing for Kari in concerts, she does it to meet her dad. Being a stand-in is hard work and Lexi can barely leave the publicist's apartment-no one is to know she exists. That doesn't stop her from running into her idol, Grant Delray, and they fall in love. Tabloids run pictures of Lexi (in her Kari persona) with Grant, and she ends up in major trouble. When she finally encounters her dad, he's furious that an imposter has been playing his daughter. Amazingly, everything is tied up neatly. This novel doesn't do anything new with the fantasy of becoming a celebrity or being the daughter of one. It's pleasant but convoluted and its feel-good ending doesn't ring true.-Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA

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