Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

December 13, 2010
"It's difficult to step off the fame track, mainly because now I don't know what I would do or who I'd be without a script," laments 17-year-old control freak Charlie Tracker, who has co-starred with arrogant Fielding Withers for several years on the Family Network's hit show Jenna & Jonah's How to Be a Rock Star, in which they play next-door neighbors in love. In real life, they are sick of each other, even as they are (resentfully) pretending to be a couple for the sake of ratings. When Fielding is falsely accused of being gay, he and Charlie escape to his beach house and attempt to get to know each other again. The question is, with so much fakery in their lives, have they lost their identities? The Half-Life of Planets coauthors Franklin and Halpin pen an introspective coming-of-age story that illuminates the realities and perils of celebrity. Although the story follows a predictable arc and the alternating first-person narratives are a bit too similar, the teens' dialogue is snappy, and romantics will enjoy watching as love blossoms off-camera. Ages 12–up.