June 1, 2006
Gr 6 Up -Kaitlin Burke is an overworked teen celebrity who thinks it would be cool to be ordinary for a couple of months. She also wants to get away from her competitive costar, Sky Mackenzie, who has been making her life difficult. After a bit of brainstorming, she decides to enroll, incognito, in her friend Liz -s high school. During the next few weeks, she discovers how nice it is to have friends who like her for who she is -or appears to be -rather than because she -s famous. She even starts a relationship with Austin, a nice boy who, ironically, has a crush on Kaitlin Burke, but hasn -t a clue that he -s dating her. Things go awry when Sky is asked to host the school -s spring fling, which has a Hollywood theme. Everyone dresses as a celebrity, and Kaitlin ends up going as herself. While at the dance, Sky nastily unveils Kaitlin -s secret. It -s not surprising that her friends, especially Austin, feel betrayed, but she manages to redeem herself in the end. The protagonist is kind, unspoiled, and upstanding -refreshingly different from the norm. Fans of Meg Cabot -s -Princess Diaries - (HarperCollins) or Ann Brashares -s -Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - books (Delacorte) will gobble this one up." -Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID"
Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 14, 2006
Popular soap star (and one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25") Kaitlin Burke is burned out by her hectic schedule and a backstabbing co-star who leaks lies to the tabloids. To escape, she decides to attend high school with her best friend for a few months of the show's hiatus, donning an English accent, a wig, glasses and polyester to play the part of a normal girl named Rachel. Readers may get swept up by the far-out premise, and by the Hollywood secrets Kaitlin reveals along the way ("Hollywood Secret Number Eight: ...The majority of your wardrobe is borrowed). Overall, though, this is fairly formulaic stuff: at Clark Hall, Kaitlin/Rachel has to deal with snotty popular girls but wins over a cute lacrosse player (they bond over their love of Star Wars). Meanwhile, someone may have stolen Kaitlin's Sidekick (the "poor little machine that works overtime trying to contain the pieces of my 'double life' "), and her agent worries that her secret notes will turn up on the Web. Could it have been her rival co-star, who's currently competing with her for a role in a major new film? The story comes to a head at-of course-the school's biggest dance of the year. (The dance theme is "Night of a Thousand Stars" and Kaitlin, undercover as Rachel, dresses up as Kaitlin.) Readers may be amused along the way, but they certainly will not be surprised. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2006
Yet another Hollywood starlet tired of the limelight goes undercover in a "real" high school. The implausible plot is made even more so because sixteen-year-old Kaitlin Burke goes to a local school (wearing a wig and non-designer clothing) and continues to make public appearances. Stock characters and transparent plotting are up to this popular subgenre's usual standards.
(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)