By: Julie Kraut and Shallon Lester
Dreamed about having a summer of fun in the big city? So has 17-year-old Emma Freeman, but when she lands a high-profile internship in the city, things don't turn out exactly as she hoped they would. In fact, as the title suggests, they turn into one hot mess, as Emma doesn't have a limitless supply of cash to keep herself clothed in designer duds, her best friend is obsessed with boys to the exclusion of everything else, her summer roomie makes Paris Hilton seem like a nice, shy girl and she tells a little fib to the hottest guy in the office. And, if that wasn't enough, her boss isn't exactly Mr. Warm and Fuzzy … can Emma turn it all around and make her summer a sizzler, not a fizzler? Only one way to find out …
By: Lizabeth Zindel (Penguin)
High schooler Maggie is about to start her senior year, but there's drama afoot: Her parents have just split up, she's forced to leave her dad and best friend to move to New York City with her mom and she has to start classes at a fancy Manhattan prep school. Things seem to be looking up when she hooks up with a group of her new school's most popular girls, but when she learns their little secret – that they keep a secret wall full of mean gossip and commentary about the other students at the school – Maggie adds to the cruel scrapbook to fit in. Will she turn around and be true to herself, or will she ultimately become a mean girl herself?
By: Alyson Noel (St. Martin's Press)
By: Jennifer Banash (Berkley Trade)
It's the new Gossip Girl! This new book series kicks off with Midwest teen Casey McCloy moving to New York City to live with her grandmother and attend a super wealthy prep school. Bust Casey doesn't want to simply attend the school – she wants to rule the school, and decides that a makeover from Meadowlark Academy's most popular student, Madison Macallister, is just the thing she needs to make that happen. The makeover works – Casey definitely starts turning heads, including that of one of the hottest guys around, a guy who just happens to be Madison's crush. Has Madison just landed herself a boyfriend, an enemy, or both?
By: Robin Benway (Penguin)
Think it would be cool to be famous? So did California high school student Audrey Cuttler until it happened to her! Audrey decides to break up with her totally self-obsessed boyfriend Evan, the lead singer of a local band; in turn, Evan writes a song about the break-up, called 'Audrey, Wait!' that becomes a hit record! Suddenly, all the gossip Websites, People magazine and paparazzi want to know who the girl behind the song is, which means everything Audrey does, everything she wears and everyone she hangs out with is suddenly a matter of national importance. But again, is being that famous all it's cracked up to be?
By: Jay Asher (Penguin)
If you're looking for a beach read that's much less light-hearted, Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why is a must. The book finds teen Clay coming home from school to find a package waiting for him. Inside are audio tapes recorded by his classmate and one-time crush Hannah, who recently committed suicide. On the tapes, Hannah goes into detail about the 13 reasons why she took her own life, and one of them involves Clay. It's a crushing, emotional, powerful book, and again, doesn't make for light reading. But in addition to being a fantastic, engrossing read, it also serves as a reminder of how we should always be aware of how our actions affect other people.
By: Sarah Dessen (Penguin)
Ruby's mother has abandoned her, and her plan to remain, alone, in her house until she turns 18 and can legally be on her own has just come to an end thanks to a nosy landlord. If that isn't the makings of the perfect Cinderella story, what is? Ruby, it turns out, has an older sister who left home 10 years earlier and is now happily married to a very wealthy man. They take Ruby in an offer her everything she could ever want – nice secure home, great school, new clothes and the promise of college. So why is she not embracing her new fairy tale life? Maybe because she's had to depend on herself for so long that it's hard to let go and let herself believe she can finally count on someone else to be there for her …
By: Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt)
Another engrossing, and not-so-light-hearted read, Adoration begins as 17-year-old Jenna Fox awakens from an 18-month coma with absolutely no memories of her past. Her parents fill her in on her backstory – the coma came after a horrific accident, they tell her – but as she slowly begins to regain her memories on her own, the stories her parents have told her begin to unravel. Jenna learns one shocking detail after the next, and finds out that her relationships with her family, and their relationships with each other, aren't what they appear to be. In fact, even the truth about her accident differs from what her parents have led her to believe, and leaves Jenna in the position of not knowing who she really is … the Jenna her parents have told her about, or someone who's a victim of those around her?
By: S.A. Bodeen (Feiwel and Friends)
Warning: This thriller is so addictive that we stayed up half a night to finish the book once we started it! The story revolves around 15-year-old Eli, whose dad is a famous tech inventor and billionaire. The family has a secret compound built underground, where Eli's dad has stocked years and years worth of supplies for the family, in case a nuclear attack happens and the family has to go live underground until it's safe to come above ground again. Surprise – the worst happens, and Eli, his mom, dad and siblings are forced to head to the compound when a nuclear attack hits the U.S. The family is safe, but heartbroken: Eli's twin brother and his grandmother didn't make it into the compound before the hatch had to be sealed, and the family must live with the fact that those family members will be gone by the time they can go above ground again. The family manages to slowly adapt to their new life, and six years go by – to the time when Eli turns 15 – until Eli begins to notice strange things about the way his father is behaving. Finally, the unthinkable happens: The family begins to run out of food supplies, and Eli's father suggests a horrific solution to the problem. Will Eli learn the truth in time to save all his family members from his mad dad's crazy plans? Prepare to stay up all night yourself to find out!
By: Deborah Gregory (Delacorte)
If you love Project Runway and America's Next Top Model, this new book series is for you. Catwalk revolves around four friends – Pashmina, Felinez, Angora, and Aphro – who are students at Fashion International High School in New York City. Each year, the school divides the students into groups, and each group competes to win the prestigious annual fashion contest, where they have to design their own clothing lines! The winners get scholarships, their own runway show and, essentially, the chance to actually launch their fashion world career, so Pashmina and the gang are determined to come out on top!
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