Confessions of a Teen Nanny [Paperback]

Victoria Ashton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Confessions of a Teen Nanny | Publication Date: July 5, 2005

"Thank God you're here, Adriana!" Mrs. Warner called out.

Taking a deep breath, Adrienne decided to stand up for herself. "Adrienne," she said clearly. "My name is Adrienne."

"How terrible. You should change it. Adriana has a bit of chic to it. Now, where are your bags?"

"My bags?" Adrienne asked, incredulous.

"Well, darling, you don't think that we could open the house in Palm Beach without having someone to watch Emma, do you?"

Sixteen-year-old Adrienne Lewis is in charge of eight-year-old Emma Warner, an evil genius who has gotten all five previous nannies fired -- and Emma is the good news. Because then there's Emma's seventeen-year-old half-sister, Cameron. Everyone knows how wild Cameron is. Everyone knows what a liar Cameron is. Everyone knows what a user Cameron is. Everyone except Adrienne.

Adrienne's best friend, Liz, tries to warn her, but Adrienne tells Liz she's the one who doesn't know the real Cameron! Together, Adrienne and Cameron indulge in shopping sprees, bar hopping, and crazy, drunken parties.

Does Cameron actually want Adrienne to become her new best friend?

Of course not.

Cameron wants Adrienne's boyfriend.

True to life, funny, and oh, so catty, Confessions of a Teen Nanny gives the behind-the-scenes scoop on what it's like to work and play with the rich and famous.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up -Adrienne is hired as a nanny to Emma Warner, a precocious child from an ultra-rich New York family. Using lies, bribery, and blackmail, the eight-year-old tests Adrienne, but the teen manages to keep the upper hand with her charge-most of the time. The same is not true of Adrienne's relationship with Emma's sister, Cam, who is Adrienne's age. Using the same bag of tricks, she has Adrienne believing that they are friends. What Cam offers would be hard for any teen to resist-free designer clothes, invitations to fabulous parties, flying on a private jet, staying in a mansion. But all that glitters is not gold. Soon she forces Adrienne to arrange clandestine parties where out-of-control rich kids partake of sex, alcohol, and drugs. Then Adrienne is drugged and photographed in compromising situations. Worst of all, she is blamed for jewels stolen at a party. The book ends rather abruptly, with a simple explanation for the stolen jewelry, revealed in one sentence. Whether or not Adrienne wins back the boyfriend Cam attempts to steal is left dangling, as if to pave the way for a sequel. But neither of these shortcomings detracts seriously from the enjoyment of the book. Fans of Cecily von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girl" series or Zoey Dean's "The A-List" series (both Little, Brown) will like this offering.-Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The nanny's story has been popular since Jane Eyre. This book give it a chick lit veneer.The flap copy says Ashton is a debutante "who divides her time between New York City, the Hamptons, and Europe." Apparently, she still had time to pen this novel in which Liz gets her friend Adrienne a job in the same Fifth Avenue building where she works. Adrienne's charge is Emma, an eight-year-old malevolent genius who takes a liking to Adrienne. But Emma's half-sister, 17-year-old Cameron, takes a liking to Adrienne's boyfriend. It's all fancy apartments, fancy labels, and backstabbing, and stereotypes, but readers who want the chick lit experience (with no frills in the writing) will find it here.

Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060731737
• ISBN-13: 978-0060731731
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,709,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Confessions of an Unhappy Book Reader, January 29, 2006

By 

Jen (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Teen Nanny (Library Binding)

Finally, a teen book about being a nanny! Is it a cute topic? Yes! Was it well written? No! The problem with this book is that it is pretty short and it still cannot keep the reader's attention. I found that just getting to the next chapter proved to be difficult!

Confessions of a Teen Nanny starts out with Adrienne, the nanny who is in a bind about a party that she just threw and the diamonds that belong to her wealthy employer are missing. Then, the book goes into the past and the reader learns how Adrienne came to be the nanny of this little girl Emma and how her best friend Liz works in the apartment below her. As the book progressives, the reader then learns all about Adrienne and her boyfriend Brian and how Emma's older half-sister Cameron is a bad influence on Adrienne. The book tries to include too many ideas and does not have time to finish them. Also, it was choppy and would go from babysitting Emma to wild drinking parties all in the same chapter! Once again, the topic is good but the book does not carry through. I suggest picking up a different book on the self.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My Guilty Pleasure, December 11, 2005

By 

Sailor Universia "Universia" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Teen Nanny (Library Binding)

Confessions of a Teen Nanny kicks off in an unapologetic high pace and keeps trucking at the same speed throughout all of its mere 198 pages. Author Victoria Ashton sacrafices character development and a deep plot for lengthy (and increasingly annoying) descriptions of the designer clothes the girls wear. And boy, are there a lot of those. I found it aggravating to be force-fed yet ANOTHER detailed account of Cameron's latest outfit, but that's just me. And indeed, those who live for the tabloids will also love this novel, the tale of sixteen-year-old Adrienne Lewis and how she becomes entwined with high society after taking a job as a nanny for the precocious, calculating child prodigy Emma Warner, the daughter of a filthy rich business tycoon and his nauseatingly stuck-up wife, who would gladly fire Adrienne just for wearing a green sweater and tosses out cash bonuses like bread crumbs. But worst of all is Cameron, the backstabbing socialite who pretends to befriend Adrienne while in reality pursuing the nanny's boyfriend. Before Adrienne knows it, much more is at stake than just her job.

As I previously mentioned, the problem with this novel is character development. Each is so superficial in their own way: from Adrienne and her best friend Liz, who take unhealthy delight in gossiping about Cameron (the first conversation that we witness them sharing revolves soley around Cameron's nailpolish and sunglasses...yeah); to Emma, who also takes fixation on a sole being, in this case Oprah, and is malicious for practically no reason; to the overdone caricature of an Upper East Side (...), Cameron. Only in cheap 80's movies have I heard anyone so much as utter the phrases "I'm so psyched!" or "This is totally uncool", but these girls do. The complete outrageousness of each cliche`d situation is overwhelming...and yet, why couldn't I put this book down? It's because Victoria Ashton, the self-professed socialite who has "played with the rich and famous" and "divides her time among New York City, the Hamptons, and London" and has no idea how to write a deep, thoughtful PAGE, let alone an entire book, weaves a web of intrigue. As much as I found myself hating Adrienne and Cameron, I wanted to know just what crazy circumstances they would get into next. Not one thing about this novel made me think, laugh, or cry, but rather it made me groan. It's like seeing a car wreck on the roadside: you know you should look away, but you can't help but stare as the paramedics pull mangled bodies from the flaming debris. Yes. The author is a paramedic, the characters are the mangled bodies, the book is the wreckage, and you can't help but stare.

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it but..., November 15, 2009

By 

Jacque Cartwright "butterfly" (texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Confessions of a Teen Nanny (Paperback)

I don't think it's appropriate for teens to read..especially in the early teens. While the book was an ok read for me (ahem a 30+ female lol) I don't think I would want my daughter reading about the teens in the book who were constantly drinking, drugging and partying. Not just amongst themselves but with ADULT men. Naked in a pool? No way. I would like to find out what happens next though.