Caitlin McCourt has plans to be a diva- but not a pop star, an opera singer. With this goal in mind, she auditions for the muical theater program at Miami High School of the Arts. Her amazing voice sweeps her in the door, but at this new artsy school, she just doesn't feel as interesting as the other students, who are all self-confident and inhibition-free. Caitlin, who spent the first fifteen years of her life overweight and uncomfortable with herself, spent her first year in a newly thin body with an abusive boyfriend, a perfectionist mother, and a lot of self doubt.
Kirsten is cursed. She's spending the winter with her sister and nephew, tending after both of them- Gretchen broke her leg skiing and Brett is three- in the twin cities, far away from her friends. Plus boyfriend-less Kirsten has to find a date to Groundhog Getaway, the weekend cabin trip she and her friends have been planning for ages. But when she stumbles across a hot guy at the local ice rink, things start looking up. Sean is such a hottie- so why does she keep finding herself attracted to his brother, Conor?
A racy title may suggest a racy story normally, but Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love is anything but. Felicia, Jess, and Kat are fourteen- year-olds at the Manhattan Free Children's School, an alternative environment for the story that allows them midday chais at diners and virtually no bothersome studies. The three call themselves the Sex Kittens, so the boys are dubbed Dawgs. In the science competition of the century, Felicia decide to enlist the aide of science guru Matthew "her crush" who breeds genius bunnies, to find the secret of love.
Girl in Development is a fun novel about Samantha Rose, a bookish brunette who gets sent to LA for an internship with the famous Authentic Pictures production company. Staying with her snobby, stylish cousin Kate doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun for Sam, who would rather stay at home safely on the east coast, reading classic novels and waiting for her dream guy to stumble across her path.
This collection of wacky stories is written by authors from the Monterey area, and take place in Monterey, although in varying time periods, from ghostly tales of years past to imaginations of the Jetsons-like future. My favorite was the The Lizard Catcher, by Lele Dahle. It was a suspenseful story about what happens to a group of children living in a farming community when Juanita, the daughter of a migrant worker, joins their group of friends. You won't know what is going to happen until the surprising and sad ending.
