All this talk about dance books on the Center Stage post made me think of the Jill Krementz books for children, ” A Very Young [fill in the blank] “. My favorite hands down was a Very Young Dancer.

This was a photographic journey of a girl who took classes at the School of American Ballet and got the lead in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Either it was fixed, or it was awful lucky that she got the part because it started before the auditions. Secondly, it was created in the seventies so yea, awesome. I read the shit out this one and a few years back snuck into the children’s section of my library and hid in the stacks and read it again. I loved looking at the pictures of all the costumes and performances and jealous of the attention Stephanie got and the fact she lived in New York City. Also, I was irked by her Frankenstein forehead.

My second favorite was A Very Young Skater, starring a girl with a distracting overbite.

She got to wear pretty skate costumes and competed in competitions. This one talked a lot about the technical details of skating, which I remember loving.

There was also A Very Young Rider, which I avoided because of my intense phobia of horses, and A Very Young Circus Flyer, which I avoided because it was about a boy and therefore lacking any pretty costumes, and I recently discovered that there was also A Very Young Actress, which was about a girl who got to play Annie in Annie II in Connecticut regional theater. I am pretty sure I probably read A Very Young Gymnast, but can’t remember the details. Anyone?

Veronica is a show-off because she’s obviously insecure and she thinks that showing off will win her friends. I kind of feel bad for her because she’s clearly a smart, creative kid. She constantly tries to befriend the popular girl, the bitching blond laughing at her. The weird girl in school, Hilary, tries to befriend Veronica but Veronica’s not having that because Hilary is small, wears her hair in a bun, wears lacy ankle socks, and carries a floral shopping back as a book bag. Oh, the horror! She realizes that Hilary reads the same books as she does, and she has a pretty cool family, so she gives in and is friends with her.

She hangs out at the library a lot (see? she is awesome!) and a book she wants has been out for a while, so she tracks down who has it and sends her hate mail. So, Veronica’s a little quirky, she doesn’t know correct social skills. However, the girl finds her and they end up being friends too. The moral? Just be yourself! Awwwwww.

I remember more in the series, where Veronica removes the side of her apartment to put in a baby grand piano. And the another one where she goes to California to visit her father and new stepmother. I’m off to track them down…

I tried, y’all.

It was painful. Mostly because I wasn’t sure if Lisi was being satirical or or actually realistic. The clique girls, mainly Massie, were such little witches I wanted to slap them all. And where are the parents and don’t they know that Massie is a little wench? The gals are also wearing Missoni and Jimmy Choo sandals and they don’t even have boobs yet.

Claire is the middle-class girl that is staying in Massie’s guest house and the meaner the girls are to her, the more Claire wanted to be accepted by them. And when I am saying mean, I’m talking pouring food on her and ignoring her when she is in the room mean. Which, is kind of true to life, but Claire totally forsakes her indivudalistic spunky new friend anytime she thinks there is a chance she can gain Massie’s approval. Ugh.

I also feel like we are in a throwback to the 80s with a resurgence of obsession with the rich and consumerism. [We've talked about this before.] I mean, it’s always been there, but I think back to the yuppie period. (For social commentary, read American Psycho).

Good lord, there’s like 10 more books of these. Pass.

Someone had mentioned previously that it was going to be republished, but as I was in the teen section of Barnes and Noble (I always shamefully head there first) I saw it. Yipee! I don’t remember much, but I remember it was awesome and I wanted to be in the Secret Circle. It’s like if Charmed was a good show or if The Craft was a good movie.

In other news, The Hills has become a parody of itself.

Remember how lots of the teen horror books had parts of the covers that were raised off the front, to create a 3-d-ish affect? This one totally reminded me of that. Well, this is fitting, since everyone is all ga-ga about the Twilight* movie business.

Caroline B. Cooney, if she even exists as one person, wrote mediocre stuff, if you ask me. And you are asking me, because you are reading this. I think she did the Fog, Fire, Flood series which I barely remember. However, The Cheeleader is by one one of the best written thrillers I can remember reading. Perhaps it is even in Christopher Pike league? Dare I say.

Basic plot: shy, drippy Althea discovers a vampire in her house who strikes a bargain- he will take the “lives” of people in return for making her a popular cheerleader. He doesn’t kill them, but takes their energy, their livlihood, and basically their personalities until the person is a hollow shell. Althea, the character, struggles with the dilmena about ruining people’s lives versus making hers better. You are probably thinking this sounds like a shitty straight-to-video horrow movie starring Brittany Snow or something. But there are several reasons why it kicks ass and is not like all the other teen stuff at the time:

• Althea is not decribed as unpopular, but just unnoticed. She kinds of drifts in and out without people noticing her. She had some good friends in junior high, but they drifted apart because they had better things to do. The way she was described really hit home for me and was pretty heartbreaking.
• As the book starts, she had already discovered the vampire in her old house, so we get right into the action, so there is no build up or cliched introduction. This is pretty outside the norm of your basic storytelling, so it was pretty unique writing.
• Althea’s parents and family are not even mentioned at all. We assume they exist and also live in this house, but never mentioned.  Which, is kind of weird, but I think also on purpose, to add to the sublimeness of the whole thing.
• The struggle Althea has between hurting others and benefiting herself goes more complex than one would think: she thinks a lot about if she is popular because people actually like her for herself, or if they are just under the influence of the vampire, and ultimately, does that really matter to her? because it’s about he she feels? I have to say, a little shallow sociopathic side of myself thought that for me, it wouldn’t really matter to me, the attention would feel great.
• Nothing is explained too much, which I love; not everything needs to be spelled out. We never know how or why the vampire is in her house, or how he influences her classmates to think she is popular, or even what happens to the people whose souls he takes.

I’d actually like to see this one as a movie, I think it could work, if it was done in a sublime way, not a teeny-bopper way.

Anyone else read this? Thoughts, opinions?

*Regarding Twilight: from all the hype and what I have heard about it, I hate it already. However, I am considering reading it and posting my thoughts here. Eventually. I don’t know. Like I said, it is already overhyped for me. Maybe it’s too built up.

I know there is a lot of love for Christopher Pike out there, so I wanted to let you all know that I finished reading his adult novel from 2007, Falling.

Wow. Even more than I remember, he has a way with words that still haunts me. He also has a way with building characters that are complex without even having to use a lot of words or backstory. In a way, their actions tell you all you need to know. The plot is pretty simple, and is actually similar to Silence of the Lambs. A mythology-professor-turned-FBI-agent uses the help of a serial killer to track down a kidnapper, with plot twists and turns which I kind of saw coming and kind of didn’t. Along with this, some of the themes include obsessive love and the pain of separation from someone.

What is interesting is that he kind of recycles lots of ideas from his other young adult novels: rock climbing, faking one’s own death for revenge, for example. Despite that, it still works for me.

Wow, it’s difficult for me to write a “normal” and “good” book review. For those of you that like Pike, and those of you not familiar, I would check this out. I ripped through it in two days, and wished it went on forever. It’s a good thing he still seems to be writing, and I hope for more (adult novels).

Here’s what I remember:

• A girl meets a strange nerdy boy who can go into the 4th dimension
• The fourth dimension wasn’t just a perpective, it was its own universe with its own living creatures
• If you flip over in fourth dimension and come back, you will be reversed, and all foods taste weird to you. Apparenly, reversed ketchup is like crack
• The guy and gal are kidnapped by two freaky creatures in the fourth dimension, and then they look at them with fourth-dimension viewing glasses, they looked like scary octopuses
• This book ruled

I think this author wrote another book about a boy that finds a cloning machine. Except the clone would start growing weird black moles and turn into a freaky killer. Or maybe that was a bad dream I had.

Well, I got what I wished for…The Luxe is dramatic, trashy historical fiction. Although this was officially a young adult book, I expected it to be better. It’s like Gossip Girl/Sweet Valley High set in the turn of the century New York City. One gal is posed to be society’s sweetheart, but flakes her own death so she could run off with the stable boy. Woops, I gave away the ending.

I was into it during the beginning, but then it kind of fizzled on me. The characters really were not likeable (even bad-likeable) and had no motivations for anything. Elizabeth, the good sister, I guess was like our Elizabeth Wakefield, and her friend Penelope is like Jessica/Lila, and the boring and rich Henry is like a Patman. Oh, and Diana Holland is supposedly “free-spirited” but really comes off as childish and annoying. The only entertaining character is Issac Phillips Brock, the bitchy gay friend who is showed as a shallow gossipy type. But really, he is the only only one that shows personality.

I totes read this one because Jessi mentioned it in a BSC book. Of course that means I just had to read it!

I mean, this is supposed to be a sweet story, and it’s about boarding school, so you think I’d like it, but really it was kind of grating. One of the girls was super homesick and wouldn’t stop fucking whining about it. Then she met this kee-razy friend and they did totally kooky stuff together! Like had a midnight feast! And dressed like ice cream cones! And made up a dumb language that had a vocab of about three words!

I think this is supposed to be a classic or something. Anyone else remember it?

Edit: I just remembered another part: One of the girl’s chores at home was to wash all the dishes. She would pretend that all the utensils were wounded soldiers and that she was a kind nurse who would wash their wounds.  Interesting.

I can’t find pictures of the cover anywhere, but does Palm Beach Prep series ring a bell? I have the first three books. It’s about gals at a swanky girls prep school.

Quinn is the spunky, rock and roll scholarship kid from the wrong side of town.

Alicia is the spunky Latina, so of course she is fiery and breaks out into Spanish.

Nicole is the boring rich girl who gets turned on by riding a horse. Literally.

Esme is the blond beautiful ditsy model.

They’re all so different, but what they have in common is each other! Gag. Actually, it wasn’t so bad. In the first book, Quinn moves to town and makes enemies with Cara Knowles, who accuses her of stealing a watch. The other gals prove her innocense and become besties.

Book #2, Sealed With A Kiss, is one of my all-time favorites. Esme gets a modeling job where she models with a sixteen year old guy. They start secretly dating (um, she’s twelve, remember) and she pretends she’s sixteen. She hides it from her friends until they go to makeout point and he tries to touch her boobs. She gets upset and the gals help her break up with him. I’m gonna share something now….ready?…this book inspired my own foray into writing teen fiction. Well, this and the Hot Looks Dolls.

Each one was from a different country! Of course the Black doll was from Africa, obvs. My favorite was Chelsea, the British girl with the crimped hair. Anyhoo….

My “novel” was about a group of models who are payed by an agency to take a cruise and do a catalog shoot. There are the bitchy ones, the cool ones, and the nerdy ones (yes, nerdy models). One has a romance and the others just kind of tried on different clothes. Half the writing were detailed descriptions of outfits (I learned from the best- AMM). There. I admit it. God, it was horrible. Some of it was illustrated by me and I also went through catalogs and YM magazine and cut out pictures of the models to represent them. Oh the shame! Sorry, I trashed it long ago because I had a fear that I would be killed in a freak accident and someone would go through my belongings and find it.

Back to Palm Beach Prep for a sec. The third book was about Alicia running for president against Cara Knowles, but I did not reread it. These were well-written, and aside from the modeling business, the girls had real friendship and had fun hanging out together.

These books did feed my obsession with all things wealthy. Between these books and Pen Pal’s Palmer being from Palm Beach, I flipped out when my grandparents moved from New York to Palm Beach. Actually, it was Palm Beach County, but then I didn’t know the difference. When we went down to visit, I had a surprise. What I thought I would be seeing is their new palm-tree lined mansion, but what I got was a small condo in an over-55 community. Very quaint, but not what I thought.

Anyone read these? Please say yes so I won’t feel crazy.

Speaking of models, I was uber-model obsessed when I was younger. Modeling apparently was the most awesome and highest-reaching level of success in life. Luckily, pop culture cashed in on that. I watched House of Style on MTV religiously and learned how to make my hair into dreadlocks using a teasing comb, aquanet, and a hairdryer. And what was with the modeling shows? A concept I thought was awesome was the idea of several models living under one roof trying to make it….and tah-dah! Living Dolls, starring David Moscow, Leah Remini and Halle Berry.

The same exact concept was used but as a drama instead of sitcom for the awesome Models, Inc. Lots of pool-pushing, identical twin madness and backstabbing. Although the women didn’t really look like actual models. Oh well.

One more confession: I totally watched all of the show 8th and Ocean when it was on MTV. Same concept- models all living together. And oh the hardships!  Although it was pretty harsh when one agent kept telling this one model that she shouldn’t come in until her skin cleared up. Ouch.

Aside from the supernatural element, something that struck me about The Awakening was because it was one of the reasons I never knew what to talk to boys about (and arguably still don’t). Lemme back up.

So the basic plot: Elena is a beautiful popular blond. She meets and falls in luv with the vampire Stefan, who first notices her because he looks like his long lost love, Katherine. He was in a love triangle with Katherine with his brother Damien, who has shown up in town to make Stefan’s life hell and also to steal Elena to get back at Stefan. Blah blah blah blah vampires schmampires. Katherine tried to convince them that the three of them could be in a realtionship together until the end of time, but the brothers weren’t into the whole poyamorous thang.

It’s really hard for me to root for a heroine who is beautiful and popular. Of COURSE she is going to get the guy. maybe I am bitter, but I always prefered protagonists who were a bit on the awkward or underdog side. Actually, when Stefan first shows up in town, she asks him out but he declines and she is DEVASTATED. Like, can’t even show her face in school. Calm down, bitch, it’s called humility. But then of course she finds out later that Stefan really DID love her from the start, even before talking to her. Therefore, reinforcing that looks matter the most. He stole an apricot ribbon she wore in her hair and fondles it every night.

Elena has two best friends, Bonnie and Meredith, who seem to exist purely to be involved in Elena’s life. They come to Elena’s rescue after the aformentioned humiliation and conversations revolve around Elena’s life. None of them seem to have drama or interests. I wonder if they get sick of always talking about Elena or appearing only when Elena needs friendship. I’m often the role of the sidekick friends, so this stuck out for me.

They all live in Fells Church, Virginia. Is that supposed to be Falls Church? Nice disguising of the town, LJ.

Stefan is basically Eurotrash. He wears a leather jacket, big singlasses, and wears designer Italian shoes and drives a Ferrari. How very mid-nineties attractive. So he and Elena are so PASSIONATE about each other. THey rarely talk about anything, just spend time together and be PASSIONATE. This irked me then and irked me now. He’s a vampire! She could ask him about that, she could talk about current times, but no, they just gaze into each other’s eyes. Since books were my guide to socialness, I needed HINTS on how to talk to boys.

There’s an incident in a graveyard where some boys were traumatized by Damien but Stefan saves them, but Stefan in implicated, then at their haunted house at school, a teacher is killed by Damien and again it is pinne on Elena.

Basically, nothing much happens in he book except the PASSION.

I remember the following three books getting better…I think?