Fangirl - Softcover

Ken Baker is the E! Entertainment Television’s Chief News Correspondent. Ken has interviewed and reported on just about every major pop star in the world—all of whom he proudly has on his playlist. He lives (and writes) in Hermosa Beach, California. Follow him via Twitter @kenbakernow.

Gr 8-10-This lackluster novel has a promising premise but reads like a script from a made-for-TV movie. Josie Brant, a high school loner, has a secret infatuation with the famous pop star Peter Maxx. When her best friend, Ashley, submits a song Josie wrote to the "Sing it to the Maxx" contest, Josie suddenly finds herself meeting and impressing her crush. As the novel progresses, Peter, who is struggling between wanting to be a normal teenager and all of the responsibilities that come with being a pop star, reaches out to her and eventually asks her to come to his show in Las Vegas. Between having her father put in jail for growing marijuana and having the few friends she did have disown her, Josie decides that sneaking out to Las Vegas is the grown-up thing to do. She gets a ride from her punk-rock, Harry-Potter-loving, old-beyond-her-years neighbor. The language throughout the novel seems to be trying so hard to sound like teen speak that it goes into the realm of grating and unrealistic. Add to that the drive to Las Vegas when Josie's friend starts talking about the dangers of having sex too early, and readers are beat over the head with the awkward language and moral messages. The story wraps up with a too-good-to-be-true ending. Pass on this one and recommend Gordon Korman's Born to Rock (Disney, 2006) to students who are looking for a novel about what it's like to be a pop-star groupie.-Tammy Turner, Centennial High School, Frisco, TXα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.