One of my regular teen customers requested a booklist of super sleuths and sassy spies. I could have listed many, many spy-tastic books, but I decided to create a shorter list which focused on my absolute favorites and those which I most highly recommend as well as some recent releases.

Super Sleuths: Classic Realistic Mysteries - rated G - for ages 7 and up

Nancy Drew
The Hardy Boys
- I read the original series. I also liked The Nancy Drew Casefiles and The Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossovers. I have not read The Nancy Drew Notebooks.
Encyclopedia Brown
- Who else watched the short-lived TV show? Hands?
The Bobbsey Twins
The Boxcar Children
Cherry Ames
Trixie Belden
Meg

Gumshoe Series: Kid Detectives

Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (and sometimes Mitchell Sharmat) and illustrations by Martha Weston
- For ages 5 and up. Easy to read, easy to follow. Great for kids making the transition from picture books to chapter books.

Chet Gecko by Bruce Hale
- For ages 7 and up. This fourth grade gecko wears a trenchcoat and a fedora. Most of his detective work takes place at his elementary school, which is populated by various species. The titles spoof those of classic mysteries. For example, The Postman Always Rings Twice becomes The Possum Always Rings Twice. This series is numbered but can be read out of order without causing any confusion.

The Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries by Ann M. Martin (and ghostwriters)
- For ages 8 and up. The baby-sitters solve crimes in their spare time. I love the BSC.

Live and Let Spy

Spy Mice by Heather Vogel Frederick, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
- For ages 7 and up. Two kids become friends with mice that are spies. They are also skateboarders and gymnasts! (The gymnast mice tumble and flip on human-sized keyboards in order to type messages.) Some evil rats try to thwart the mice, but with the help of their human friends and some friendly pigeons, the mice always save the day. NIMH fans will dig these books.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
- For ages 8 and up. No spy list is complete without Harriet M. Welsh! To this day, I associate composition books with Harriet. Fitzhugh's next two books, The Long Secret and Sport, are also set in Harriet's world but aren't as spy-oriented. I have yet to read the Harriet books written by Helen Ericson.

The Gallagher Girls books by Ally Carter
- For ages 10 and up. Gallagher Academy is a private school for girls who are educated and trained to become spies. These stories are cute, clean, and funny. Read more about the books. The series so far:
-- I'd Tell You I'd Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
-- Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
-- Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover (June 2009)
-- Fourth book in the works (title and release date unknown)

The Specialists series by Shannon Greenland
- For ages 12 and up. Teens with impressive smarts and strengths are recruited by a secret organization to work together and take down the bad guys. The series so far:
-- Model Spy
-- Down to the Wire
-- The Winning Element
-- Native Tongue

The Squad by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- The last thing Toby Klein ever wanted to be was a cheerleader, but she suddenly finds herself as a squad recruit. She's just as shocked to see herself in the uniform as she is to discover the squad is actually a team of spies. These high school girls cheer their team one moment and help the government fight evil figures the next. If the cheerleaders from Bring It On were made into government agents, they would be Toby and her teammates. Fans of the original Charlie's Angels TV series who also like pop culture and high school spirit will like this series. The series so far:
-- Perfect Cover
-- Killer Spirit

Fingerprints by Melinda Metz
- For ages 12 and up. This series blends intrigue, family secrets, and a supernatural power. Rae hears voices in her head. After a breakdown and hospitalization, she realizes that she has these voices are the thoughts of others, and that she hears them only when she touches an object that the original thinker (for lack of a better term) touched at an earlier time. This is a unique twist on psychic ability, incorporating the transfer of memories and the senses. There are seven books in the Fingerprints series. Read them in order:
-- #1 Gifted Touch
-- #2 Haunted
-- #3 Trust Me
-- #4 Secrets
-- #5 Betrayed
-- #6 Revelations
-- #7 Payback (the final book)
Read more about this series and others with psychic abilities.

The Kiki Strike books by Kirsten Miller
The simply-titled Kiki Strike introduces the Irregulars, six teenage girls who discover an underground city in New York. Each girl has an unusual hobby or interesting interest, with one girl skilled in chemistry, another an inventor, another a master of disguise, and so on. Though they are led by the seemingly fearless Kiki, the novels are narrated by Ananka Fishbein, arguably the most regular of the Irregulars. The series so far:
-- Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
-- Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb

Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce
Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
- For teens. Called a "duology" and referred to as The Daughter of the Lioness series or the Tricksters series, these two novels take place in Pierce's land of Tortall, where knights, spies, and many others use magic to their benefit. Alianne (aka Aly) wants nothing more than to be a spy. She gets her wish, but not under the best of circumstances: while on a solo voyage, she is captured and enslaved, then contacted by a trickster god named Kyprioth and commanded to serve and protect a family with royal lineage. Pierce's loyal readers will enjoy seeing Aly, for she is the daughter of Alanna, the heroine of Pierce's first series.

Who Done It?: Meaningful Murder Mysteries

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Read this book if you haven't already. Read it again if you have read it before.
- For ages 8 and up. I had to put this title in a category of its own. I recommend it to adults as often as I recommend it to kids. If I had a nickel for every time I read this Newbery Award winning book, I would be rich. Not quite as rich as Samuel W. Westing, though. Sixteen people are gathered at the reading of Westing's will and split into eight pairs. The pair that solves the mystery will become heirs to the Westing fortune. This book is filled with intelligent twists and turns, and every single character is memorable. Turtle Wexler is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. That girl rocks.

FBI Candidates: Tracking Down Serial Killers

Body of Evidence series by Christopher Golden
Read them. Read them now.
- For ages 12 and up. Jenna Blake is a pathology assistant who also happens to be a college student. The books detail autopsies, crime scenes, serial killers and detectives as well as Jenna's dorm life, her family life, and her studies. They are incredibly well-written and well-researched. If you watch(ed) CSI or Profiler, then you need to read these books right now. The first book, Body Bags, has one of my favorite opening lines: "Amanda Green died for a cigarette." Within a matter of pages, Amanda is a goner, having been at the wrong place at the wrong time. The first chapter introduces us to Jenna, beginning with the line: "It was a beautiful day to grow up." You'll see this quote at the Bildungsroman website as well as in the sidebar of this blog. There are ten paperback mysteries about Jenna. Reading them in order is highly recommended, so start with Body Bags. Read more about the series.

The Sleeper Conspiracy by Tom Sniegoski
- Ages 12 and up. Government conspiracies, assassins, action, adventure, and narcolepsy. What's not to love? Packed with action, The Sleeper Conspiracy is essentially one book split into two volumes: Book One: Sleeper Code and Book Two: Sleeper Agenda. Bad guys and spies await you! Read my review.

Acceleration by Graham McNamee
- Ages 12 and up. When a teenage boy finds the diary of a would-be stalker and murderer, he feels compelled to track the criminal down before another woman is harmed. This quest becomes personal because the protagonist was unable to save a drowing victim the summer before. A high-octane ending.

The Creek by Jennifer L. Holm
- Ages 10 and up. This is a psychological thriller as well as a coming-of-age story set in a sleepy suburban town. Read my review.

Don't Spook Until You Are Spooken To: Ghostly Tales

The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
- Ages 8 and up. Hahn has written many books wherein a human child befriends a ghost child. The Doll in the Garden includes two girls, a white cat, a beloved doll, and a time-travel hedge. This is the book that taught me all about consumption.

The Ghost Wore Gray by Bruce Coville
- Ages 8 and up. Nina Tanleven (Nine) and her best friend Chris encounter a Confederate soldier who helped slaves escape using the Underground Railroad. This is the second of the three mysteries with featuring Nine and Chris, and I felt it is the best of the three.

The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
- Ages 8 and up. The epitome of dollhouse mysteries. Good and creepy. Mwah ha ha.

Personal Notes

I have always felt as though I would make an excellent spy or undercover agent. I like solving problems. I like solving mysteries. I really like justice. I would be a detective or FBI agent if those careers didn't require the handling of firearms. I will settle for playing those roles on TV or in films.

In elementary school, I co-founded The Clue Club with two of my school friends. Our classmates would come to us with tales of missing lunchpials and damaged schoolbooks. We would charge ten cents per case. We even had a flyer promoting our investigation services posted in the school library. Around that time, I read every classic mystery that my mom had at home plus those I found at the public library.

Did I mention that I really want to be Turtle Wexler?

Related Booklist: Teen Mystery and Horror

This just in:

The Children's Literary Café at the new Children's Center at 42nd Street is pleased to announce our event on Saturday, November 7th at 2:00 p.m.:

Cybils Kick-Off: Blogging in Style

Pam Coughlan of the sublime MotherReader children's literary blog(www.motherreader.com) headlines a panel of representatives from the greater Kidlitosphere. Each year the online children's literary community bestows child and teen novels their own awards: The Cybils. Pam and other bloggers will discuss the state of children's literature online today including ethics, publisher/blogger relations, transparency, influence (or lack thereof) over published titles, and what it means to represent an online community of children's literary enthusiasts.

Elizabeth Burns in the Youth Services Consultant for the New Jersey State Library Talking Book & Braille Center. She blogs at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy (yzocaet.blogspot.com). She is the co-author of Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture to Connect with your Whole Community. She blogs about children's and young adult books, television, and movies.

Susan Thomsen writes about children's books at her blog, Chicken Spaghetti (http://www.chickenspaghetti.typepad.com). A freelance writer and onetime editor, she is the mother of a fifth-grader.

Anne Boles Levy is the co-founder and director of the Cybils Awards. Her day job is as a news writer on the National Desk for Metro Networks, a radio newswire based in Scottsdale, AZ. She's married to another starving journalist and they're raising two bookworms.

The Children's Literary Café is a monthly gathering of adults who are fans of children's literature. Professionals, librarians, authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers, teachers, and anyone else interested in the field are welcome to attend our meetings. The Literary Café provides free Advanced Readers galleys, a rotating series of talks with professionals in the field, and great conversation. This program is for adults only.

Saturday, November 7th at 2:00 p.m.
New York Public Library
Children's Center at 42nd Street
Room 84
42nd Street and 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018

I wish I could be there. I encourage authors and readers in or near NYC to attend!

The Cybils Book Awards offers nine different categories, based on genre and age group, with separate nominating and judging committees for each category. Each nominating committee will select between five and eight finalists per category, and those finalists will be announced in January 2010. The judging panels will select one winner per category. The winners will be announced on February 14th, 2010.

Here's the complete list of nominations for the Young Adult Fiction category. Titles in bold, I've read. When time permits, I'll add links to titles I've reviewed and interviews I've conducted with authors.

( Click here for the list of nominated titles. )

The Gallagher Girls are here to save the day - and maybe have some fun along the way.

With a killer title and a great cover, Ally Carter's teen fiction debut I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU will certainly grab the eyes of potential readers. Thanks to the author's quick wit and the book's squeaky clean romance-meets-teenage spy girl storyline, the book will keep readers both laughing and interested.

Cammie Morgan attends the Gallagher Academy, an all-girls school that is known for its emphasis on academics. Adults know it is prestigious; local kids wrongfully assume that the students must be privileged snobs. What outsiders don't know is the school is actually training the young ladies to become spies. Gallagher Girls are trained in the martial arts, taught "real" history, learn political secrets, and are multilingual.

Cammie's mother and father are spies - or were, in the case of her late father, whose death is shrouded in mystery. Her mother, Rachel, is a retired CIA operative and the school headmistress. Cammie is an only child who finds solace in her best friends and classmates, such as clumsy but lovable Liz, brassy British Bex, and anxious Anna, all of whom are also Gallagher Girls. Little does Cammie know the surprises that await her as she enters her sophomore year at the Academy: a new teacher, a new high-profile (and highly caustic) classmate, and a first crush.

Cammie has never had nor wanted a "normal" life - until she meets a local boy who is funny and kind. Of course, he doesn't know she's a spy-in-training, and she can't tell him. This leads to mistaken identities, covert meetings, costume changes (can't wear the spy gear, don't want to wear the private school uniform, must find clothes an average teenager would wear!), and plenty of pratfalls.

I don't want to spoil whether or not Cammie gets the guy in first book, but I will tell you that there's a guy in the second book. In fact, there are a lot of guys.

If you liked I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU, then you'll definitely like CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY.

The Gallagher students know how their school operates and are used to it being an all-girl campus. When the guys from Blackthorne Institute for Boys come to the Gallagher Academy share their studies and their teachers for the spring semester, some of the girls get distracted while others become suspicious.

Cammie is a bit of both camps. She appreciates the fact that the guy spies are smart and savvy, but she doesn't trust them. She kind of got off on the wrong foot with Zach, one of the spy-guys, and she can't stop thinking about Josh. She also thinks her new schoolmates are hiding something - and they might not be the only ones. Old photographs and overheard conversations make Cammie question her father's schooling and spy work. Will she ever find out what really happened to him?

DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER, the third Gallagher Girls book, is a little more serious than the first two books in the series. At the end of her summer vacation, Cammie visits Macey in Boston, where Macey's father is about to accept a nomination for the vice-presidency. When Cammie follows Macey (and Preston, the presidential hopeful's son) to an appointed place, something happens that neither of the trained spies were expecting: a kidnapping attempt.

It would be easy to say that they escaped unscathed, but that's not true. The attack shakes the girls up, leaving physical and emotional marks on them that will take months to heal. (This, combined with Macey's parental political associations, reminded me of Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White.) By the time they begin their junior year at the Academy, things have yet to really settle down - in fact, they're about to be shaken up even more.

Favorite characters from the first two books appear throughout the third, as do a few new interesting faces. Cammie notably matures throughout the course of the novel, becoming more introspective as she considers what it means to be a spy - what she has to gain, and what she has to give up. While Macey becomes more and more withdrawn, Cammie becomes more determined to figure out the identities of the attackers/kidnappers. In one memorable scene, teacher Joe Solomon discusses motivation:

"What, ladies" - he took a step, scanning the dim room - "is almost always tied to why. There are six reasons anyone does anything: Love. Faith. Greed. Boredom. Fear . . . " he said, ticking them off on his fingers; but he lingered on the last, drawing a deep breath before he said, "Revenge."

I thought about the people on the rooftop, wondered which of those things had brought them there. And why. - Page 187

Additional favorite lines from COVER include:

I found myself remembering that I know fourteen different languages and yet my life is ruled by things I cannot say. - Page 32

There are things spies often carry with them: pocket litter, fake IDs, the occasional weapon-slash-camera-slash-hair accessory. But the heaviest things, I think, are the secrets. They can drown you if you let them. - Page 77

So the three of us sat surrounded by books and secrets and the light of a dying fire, finally realizing that we were the only people in Macey's life who knew not to judge a girl by her cover. - Page 214

Note: Quotes and pagination are from the ARC and may be different in the final version.

Though the Gallagher Girls series is all about spies, it relies heavily upon the comedic aspects of Cammie's misadventures and has very little violence. It is appropriate for girls in middle school and up, great for adults who read light spy stories, and perfect for fans of The Princess Diaries and Moonlighting.

This series has become a big hit with my middle school and high school customers. Those I've given the first book to have come back for the second and the third. One copy of CROSS MY HEART circulated through three girls in less than a month; I then happily discussed the books with each of them in turn. I'd tell you what they said, but then . . . you know.

Read the Gallagher Girls books in order:
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover

Ally Carter is hard at work on the fourth Gallagher Girls book. The title, plot, and release date are all well-guarded secrets. When she shares this intel with the public, I'll update this post.

Read my exclusive interview with author Ally Carter.

Sneak a peek at my Spies and Sleuths booklist.

Without further ado, the winners of the 2008 Cybils Awards are:

Easy Readers
I Love My New Toy by Mo Willems

Fantasy & Science Fiction: Middle Grade
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Fantasy & Science Fiction: Young Adult
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Fiction Picture Books
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham

Graphic Novels: Elementary/Middle Grade
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale

Graphic Novels: Young Adult
Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Steve Rolston

Middle-Grade Fiction
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

Non-Fiction: Middle Grade/Young Adult
The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby

Non-Fiction: Picture Books
Nic Bishop Frogs written and illustrated by Nic Bishop

Poetry
Honeybee by Naomi Shihab Nye

Young Adult Fiction
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Congratulations to all of the winners and all of all of the nominees, with many thanks to all of the coordinators, panelists, judges, and volunteers who made the event possible.

This year, I was a judge for the category of YA Fiction, along with along with Jackie from Interactive Reader, Sarah from Finding Wonderland and Readers' Rants, Lili from Inside a Dog, and Casey from Avid Teen Reader. We carefully considered each and every finalist. In doing so, we had some great discussions about taxi dancers, private schools, Australia, breakups, social hierarchy, narrators, and physical therapy, among other things.

Here's my one-sentence summary of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks: A clever teenage girl secretly leads and manipulates a boys-only secret society at her prep school. For my full-length book review, click here.

See which other YA titles were nominated, and which were finalists.

Browse through Bildungsroman posts related to The Cybils.

I absolutely adore A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Linda Urban's first novel for kids. Filled with sweet sensibility and quirky characters, I highly recommend it. (Read my full-length book review.)

After playing email tag with Linda for a good year and a half, interviewing her was truly a delight.

Describe a crooked kind of perfect day.

I'm an early riser. I love when my house is quiet. A crooked perfect day would start in that quiet with one of those magical writing sessions where words just appear on the page. Then my kids would wake and want to eat something I actually have in the house.

Other components of a perfect day: a great book to read, a walk down the beautiful country road on which I live, PG Tips tea, a funny conversation with my husband, a slice of chocolate bourbon cake, pants that fit, a chat with friends.

Actually, I'm rather easy to please. A good morning of writing colors the whole rest of the day. And a bad one? Then make that two slices of bourbon cake.

( Read more... )

Linda gave me permission to post something she wrote at her website about writing:

Forget Perfect.

There is no Perfect Book.

But there is a novel to be written that is perfectly you.

And when you write it, it will be so right and true and real that people are going to want to read it.

Somewhere, right now, there is a young reader waiting for that very book. For her it will be as warm as a quilt. Every word, proof that somebody else in the world gets her, in all her wild (or quiet) imperfection.

Maybe your book will even be pink. Or not.

In any case, that book will be perfect for her. Write that book.

Visit Linda's website and LiveJournal.

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

- The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats

Connecting It to YA Lit: This poem factors into Melina Marchetta's brilliant novel On the Jellicoe Road.

View all posts tagged as Poetry Friday at Bildungsroman.

Consult the Poetry Friday roundup schedule at Big A little a.

Learn more about Poetry Friday.

I am proud to once again be a member of The Cybils Young Adult panel. This year, I'm one of the YA judges, along with Jackie from Interactive Reader, Sarah from Finding Wonderland and Readers' Rants, Lili from Inside a Dog, and Casey from Avid Teen Reader.

Many thanks to the hardworking YA nominating panel, who read over 100 nominated titles and narrowed the field down to seven. I've listed the finalists alphabetically by author's last name. Summaries are my own.

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Behind the music: How life changes for a feisty teenage girl when her ex-boyfriend writes a chart-topping song about their breakup.
Read my book review.
Check out my interview with the author.

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
The story of a young taxi dancer in the 1940s.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
A clever teenage girl secretly leads and manipulates a boys-only secret society at her prep school.
Read my book review.
Check out my interview with the author.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Five teenagers, brought together by tragedy, are later torn apart. Twenty-two years later, the fallout reaches a young woman who is struggling to put the pieces (of memory, of story, of life) together.
Book review to come after the awards are announced.
(Note: In the author's native Australia, this book is called On the Jellicoe Road.)

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
The return of a childhood friend makes a teenaged girl re-examine something horrible that happened when they were kids.
Read my book review.
Check out my interview with the author.

I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin
After breaking up, a teenage couple must deal with an unplanned pregnancy.

Thaw by Monica M. Roe
A young man battles Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The winners in all categories were announced February 14th. View the list of winners at cybils.com and read my related post.

More about The Cybils

"Cybils" is a loose acronym for Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards. It was founded by two bloggers, Anne Levy and Kelly Herold. Anyone (yes, anyone!) may nominate books for The Cybils Awards. We accept all valid nominations in multiple categories. (Nominated titles must have been published for the first time within the year and be available in English to be valid.)

Learn more about The Cybils at http://www.cybils.com

I've been involved with the awards since the first year, 2006, when I was a member of the Young Adult nominating committee. In 2007, I was part of the Middle Grade nominating committee.

Browse through Bildungsroman posts related to The Cybils

In 2008, over 100 titles were nominated for the Young Adult Fiction category of The Cybils Book Awards. There are nine different categories, based on genre and age group, and separate nominating and judging committees for each category. Each nominating committee selected between five and eight finalists per category, and those finalists were announced in January 2009. The judging panels then selected one winner per category. The winners were announced in February 2009.

Titles in bold, I've read. When time permits, I'll add links to titles I've reviewed and interviews I've conducted with authors.

( Read more... )

Related Posts:
The Cybils 2008 YA Finalists
The Cybils 2007 YA Nominations
The Cybils 2006 YA Nominations

Usually, when you're in high school, the whole world doesn't keep tabs on your social life - unless you're the ex-girlfriend of the lead singer of a hot new band, and your breakup with the frontman inspired their hit single. In that case, everyone knows your name, your face, and your personal business.

Yikes.

Meet Audrey Cuttler. After spending a long time considering whether or not to break up with her boyfriend, Evan, she makes a list of reasons why she should stay with him. It had so many more cons than pros that she decides to finally break it off, and she tells him so. They have a good cry and agree to be friends. As she leaves the room, he calls after her, "Audrey, wait!" She pretends that she doesn't hear him and keeps going.

That night, Evan has a gig with his band, The Do-Gooders. Audrey attends the show with her best friend Victoria and Victoria's boyfriend, Jonah. No one is more surprised than Audrey when Evan closes the night with a brand-new song called "Audrey, Wait!" The title character is overwhelmed, feeling embarrassed, mortified, and shocked all at once.

Things only get more uncomfortable for her when The Do-Gooders get 'discovered' and land a record deal. The higher the song climbs on the music charts, the more eyes are on Audrey. Once it becomes an international hit and Evan talks about what (and who) inspired the song, Audrey can't go anywhere without being recognized by someone or answer her phone for fear that it will be another reporter trying to get the inside scoop. She just wants to scoop ice cream at the Scooper Dooper, her afteschool job, without being hounded by paparazzi and strangers who take pictures of her on their cell phones.

Soon, Audrey can't even attend her normal classes at school any more because the administration thinks she's a 'distraction,' so they make her do her schoolwork by herself in a small room on campus. The quarantine turns out to be a good thing, as Audrey's grades improve, but she still wishes she could go back to living her normal, unremarkable life. Victoria starts to act as her spokesperson, intercepting calls from the press and protecting her best friend's privacy (well, sort of), and Audrey becomes friendly with James, her Scooper Dooper co-worker, who also becomes protective of her.

Audrey's never been more grateful for her goofy, laid-back parents and her huge cat, Bendolomena. Audrey's household seemed comfy and happy. I recognized the comfort she sought in her pet, and I really liked the depiction of her parents. They were understandably concerned for their daughter's safety and privacy, but they weren't overprotective, nor were they too relaxed. They were naturally funny characters, rather than trying too hard to be hip, and they had a really good relationship with their daughter. This allows Audrey to speak to them openly and honestly, like this:

"Yeah, I know, Dad, I wasn't expecting this, either! And at least you got a guidebook, y'know? Parents have, like, a million books telling them how to raise kids, but there's nothing telling me how to be a teenager! I'm doing the best I can too!" - Page 151

What about Evan? He pops up now and then, as needed, especially towards the end of the book. Thankfully, he doesn't become egotistical. It's clear that he's just riding the wave and trying to stay afloat. I really liked the fact that both Audrey and Evan meant well. Audrey didn't want to hurt Evan; she just realized that they weren't totally compatible. Evan was never cruel, not while they were dating, not after they broke up, and he never seeks revenge on her. The song isn't mean-spirited, and neither is he.

All throught the story, Audrey is confident, even when she doesn't think she is. There's an admirable ease about her. Once, while talking to James, she comments on being self-aware, and he responds that she's the most self-aware person he's ever meet. Later, in an atypical moment when Audrey holds something back, her father says in surprise, "Since when have you been a spectator?" Like me, Audrey knows what she likes and what she doesn't like, and she likes being in control of her life.

The dialogue sounds like you're really listening to conversations, especially those between Audrey and Victoria. (I laughed out loud when Victoria said twitterpated!) The book has a lot of musical references, ranging from classic rock to modern pop. Each chapter begins with a song lyric, citing the song title and band. Benway really captures how it feels before and after attending a really good concert, as well as during it. Listen to this description of Audrey and Victoria on their way to a show:

"[W]e were both sailing on sugar and french fries and adrenaline. We wouldn't be coming down for a while." - Page 88

And later:

"Their choruses made you wish you could fly, and we drove so fast on those nights, the orange streetlights lighting our way, taking us home." - Page 95

A few more of my favorite quotes from the book:

I looked at James.

He looked at me.

My mom looked at me.

James looked at my mom.

My mom looked at James.

I looked at my mom.

- Page 223

I sank into the kitchen chair and stared at James. "I'm having a life crisis. Pass me the Teddy Grahams."

He handed over the box. "All that's left are little paws and legs in the bottom of the box," he said. "It's a massacre." - Page 239

If you couldn't tell already, I really liked Audrey, Wait! I recommend it to teens and adults, especially those who enjoyed Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. This is a fun, fast-paced story that is as good as it sounds. Though some things - like people posting video footage and pictures of Audrey online - are very modern, overall, it's never SO right-now uber-trendy that it's annoying or would feel dated in a year or two. It's simply what it would be, were this to happen to someone now. This is because of the person at the heart of the story - Audrey, a girl who doesn't want to be famous, she just wants to be herself.

Read my interview with author Robin Benway.

Related Article: I included this book in my Thanksgiving article for SparkNotes Literature.

Related Booklist: But I Don't Want to Be Famous!