The Allegra Biscotti Collection

October 18, 2010
Emma, the affable protagonist of this effervescent series launch, faces familiar eighth-grade quandaries. Her best friend is cozying up to superficial popular girls, one of whom has Emma's crush in her sights. Her grades are plummeting, and her mother constantly nags her to study more. It's what Emma is focusing on rather than schoolwork that lifts the novel from being standard middle-grade fare. A talented fashion designer and seamstress, Emma spends after-school hours sketching and sewing at her father's lace company. When a high-profile fashion editor is captivated by Emma's designs, Emma, worried she won't be taken seriously, passes them off as the work of the fictitious Allegra Biscotti. The ruse quickly spins out of control: the editor touts Allegra as a designer to watch and insists that she create—on a tight deadline—three original designs to showcase in her magazine. Despite the improbable premise, credible characterizations and dialogue keep the novel real. For Project Runway aspirants, Bennett slips in detailed descriptions of the teens' outfits and Emma's designs, which appear in spot art. Ages 8–12.

December 1, 2010

Gr 5-8-This book manages to make the wildly implausible seem possible. When Emma, 14, becomes the hottest new fashion designer for the Voguelike Madison magazine, she does it through hard work and the help of an old hand. She's given herself the nom de plume "Allegra Biscotti" to cover up that she's the girl the editor met at her father's lace warehouse. Emma comes off as a believable teen. She likes a boy who seems unattainable and disregards Charlie, her supportive friend and accomplice in deception. Holly, her other BFF, has become part of an in-crowd Emma has no desire to join. But the luscious descriptions of the clothes Emma imagines are the best aspect of the book. Tiny sketches accompany most of them and add charm to the pages. Trying to come up with three alluring new designs, the protagonist lets her grades slide, gets in trouble with her parents, and ends up enlisting the aid of the capable Marjorie, an office administrator who was a professional seamstress. Emma, Marjorie, and Charlie are well rounded but other characters are vague, including the somewhat stereotyped editor and the snobby clique that attracts Holly. Still, kids interested in fashion are sure to become fans of the Allegra Biscotti collection.-Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2010
Grades 5-8 Fashionistas, rejoice! Allegra Biscotti (aka eighth-grader Emma Rose) has arrived on the scene. A fashion lover and designer, Emma spends most of her time sketching at her fathers lace warehouse in the Garment District, especially now that her best friend has taken up with the cool crowd. Then, a miracle. The editor in chief of one of the hottest fashion magazines spots one of her dresses and falls in love. Thinking her eighth-grade self isnt going to cut it, Emma invents Allegra Biscotti, a fashion-forward designer who takes on a life of her own, complicating Emmas to no end. Its nice to have a young chick-lit book thats about something other than middle-school angst (although theres plenty of that, too). Here, its fashion, fashion, fashion, and readers will learn something about the industry even as theyre caught up in the story of Emma trying to live her dream. Pencil-and-wash pictures of Emmas designs dot almost every page, adding to the fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)