Braless in Wonderland [Hardcover]

Debbie Reed Fischer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2008

Allee Rosen is a lot of things: high school senior, overachiever, brain. The one thing Allee is not is supermodel material—at least that’s what she thinks until modeling scouts spot her and she moves to Miami to work with an elite modeling agency. Suddenly Allee is swept up?p in a whirlwind of designer labels, photo shoots, go-sees and some seriously backstabbing models. Will this fabulous new life go to her head? New author Debbie Reed Fischer offers readers a fresh, fun, and honest peek into the crazy and glamorous world of professional modeling.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—Five-foot-nine Allee Rosen tends to look down her nose at the trendy wendies at her school, including her own kid sister, aka The Fluff. Therefore, Allee is shocked when she gets tapped by a Miami modeling agency for commercial work. Her? Allee Rosen? Brainiac feminist on the fast track to Yale? Granted, her grades will get her into an Ivy League school but her lack of moola won't. Maybe, just maybe, this surprising turn of events is the solution. So what if it goes against everything she believes. Surely she can don some heels and makeup for the sake of her future. Then a funny thing happens—Allee learns that modeling isn't so easy, people aren't always who they seem, feminism is more about empowering women than it is about being dismissive and self-righteous, and she—more than anyone—needs to quit judging a book by its cover. Fischer takes a fun, in-depth peek into the modeling world. With its catty glamour, larger-than-life personas, and Allee's painfully real journey from naive to self-assured, and geek to chic, Braless in Wonderland is a rabbit hole that teens will enjoy exploring.—Terri Clark, Smokey Hill Library, Centennial, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Detailed and realistic . . . Fischer has worked for many years as a booker in Miami, and she really knows the business." -- KLIATT

Braless in Wonderland is an unexpected delight . . . I found myself drawn into the character's adventure . . . an accurate and enticing peek into the real world of modeling, which includes not only the glitz and the glamour, but the downsides and pressures. There is a fun array of characters and scenarios, and I was left feeling that unlike many books, this one didn't fail to live up to its own plotlines potential. -- Portrait Magazine

Populated with a fun vibe, an inside look at the world of Miami modeling agencies, and some great secondary characters, BRALESS IN WONDERLAND is well worth picking up for some by-the-pool summer reading. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Reed Fischer. -- Enchantingreviews.com

A good book for growing up and seeing people for who they really are . . . worth the read. -- Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine

Such a page-turning book, you might sweep through it as quickly as you can say `go-see.' This book is like watching a fast-paced teen drama . . . you can't help but root for Allee Rosen, in all of her unglamorous glory. -- Today's Teen of The Palm Beach Post

With its catty glamour, larger-than-life personas, and Allee's painfully real journey...Braless in Wonderland is a rabbit hole that teens will enjoy exploring. -- School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (April 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525479546
• ISBN-13: 978-0525479543
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,300,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, April 17, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Braless in Wonderland (Hardcover)

Did you know that models practice smiling with their tongue behind their teeth to hide the dreaded black space? It's something that Allee Rosen would never have thought of as she stuffed rolls of toilet paper into her backpack for her art project.

Allee's headed to Yale to be an English Literature major. Yale! Or so she thought. She finds out her rocket scientist dad failed to save enough money for the prestigious school. So, for now, she's finishing her senior year of high school, working at Wal-Mart, and trying to decide whether or not to give in to her dad and go the University of Florida to major in something sensible, like science or business. Yuck.

Her life changes the day she takes her sister, Sabrina, to the mall for a modeling agency's talent search. Instead of signing Sabrina, aka "The Fluff," they want Allee! The brainiac. The feminist. The total opposite of a girly-girl. Allee knows this is crazy. She doubts it's even legit. But it's an offer she can't refuse. It could mean earning the extra money to get to Yale.

Following a dream-like trip to Miami to meet the owner of what turns out to be a highly respectable and sought-after agency, Allee moves into an apartment for the models. Allee finds herself struggling to believe that she's actually pretty. Serious by nature, she fears she'll never be able to let loose and have fun with the camera. Will she ever get a booking? How can she compete with the beautiful, intimidating, and fiercely competitive girls she's rooming with? What the heck are chicken cutlets? And what if she makes it big? Will she choose to leave Wonderland behind and go to Yale in the fall?

BRALESS IN WONDERLAND thrusts the reader into the world of modeling. Debbie Reed Fischer zooms in to focus on the often cutthroat competition between models, the necessary obsession with weight and the risks some models will take to lose just a few more pounds, the glamour, the parties, and the clothes. Oh, the clothes! If you are even the tiniest bit interested in a modeling career, I'd suggest you pick up a copy of this book. And for those of you who think you'd never consider being a model? Just remember, neither did Allee.

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Through the Looking Glass, April 17, 2008

By 

Joyce Sweeney "Picture Book Lover" (Coral Springs, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Braless in Wonderland (Hardcover)

Forget everything you learned from America's Next Top Model...Allee Rosen is here to tell you the real scoop. From the moment this quiet bookworn is discovered at her small town mall (it was supposed to be her sister!) to her wild ride through the world of South Beach glamor, you will be totally captivated by the roller coaster ride her sudden success brings and you will root for her to not lose the one thing she needs the most...herself. Debbie Reed Fischer wields language like a light saber, and she clearly knows this world as only an insider could. Almost every page gives you a laugh out loud, a surprise and an insight. This one is a winner!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all about appearances..., June 5, 2008

By 

YA Author (New England USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Braless in Wonderland (Hardcover)

...in a lot more ways than one.

Braless in Wonderland has an edgy cover and an even edgier title, sending the messages "Glitz!" and "Fashion!" and "Fiction for mean girls!" It's ironic really, because that's so not what's going on here...and yet it echoes the main themes of the book eerily well.

Debbie Reed Fischer paints a engrossing picture of a world--modeling--that I knew nothing about and felt slightly repelled by, like her protagonist Allee. I got sucked right into it along with Allee and along with her learned that appearances can be SO deceiving. Though the details about life as a model were fascinating (I will never again look at a chicken cutlet in quite the same way), it was Allee's growth and journey through that life that made it so wonderful, and Allee's discovery that feminism can have many meanings that is important here.

Read this book. Fun and entertaining? Abso-freaking-lutely. Thoughtful and thought-provoking? Even more so. It deserves all five of those stars.