Customer Reviews

Confessions of a Teen Nanny

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Oh, my God, Adrienne thought. Someone at the party stole Mrs. Warner's jewelry! "


Confessions of a Teen Nanny, first in its series. Makes you never want to work with New York socialites no matter the pay. How is a girl like Adrienne going to handle an eight year old super genius, a teen that only likes to party, and the boss? There are a lot of rules. Adrienne has to adapt quickly; she changes from a nanny into a party planner.
Her friend Liz gets her a job babysitting an eight-year-old super genius. At first she thinks it's a normal baby-sitting job. She soon realizes Emma's big sister Cameron (Cam) doesn't like to play things the easy way. Cam makes her way into Adrienne's life without her noticing. She takes Adrienne's boyfriend, and tricks her into buying things she can't afford. Will Adrienne ever get out of this mess?
I love the way Victoria Ashton portrayed the characters. I really could feel what Adrienne was going through. When Cam started hitting on Brian (her boyfriend). I could feel the way Cam clenched her claws into Adrienne's life. I recommend this book to people whom liked the Clique series, and a little drama in their life. In this book you'll see the good the bad and the outrageously wrong.

Confessions of a Teen Nanny revolves around Adrienne Lewis, a sixteen-year-old girl chosen to serve as the nanny for the wealthy Warner family's eight-year-old daughter Emma, a precocious brat. The job pays incredibly well and Adrienne can't believe her luck - until she falls in with Cameron Warner, Emma's seventeen-year-old half-sister, and her crowd of affluent, hard-partying friends. Cameron is manipulative and dishonest, and will go to almost any length to get what she wants.

I thought this book was a decent, quick read. However, I don't think it was great compared to books such as The Au-Pairs or Gossip Girl. The character development is a little weak and I thought that the plot moved so quickly as to make it superficial. I never really felt any emotions towards the characters because it never seemed like the reader got to know any of them. At the end of the book, something happens that should have made the reader feel a little angry and sad; I experienced neither of these emotions, though.

The book is pretty well-written and is definitely a "fun" read. I liked it, for the most part, but just think that the characters could have been a little more fleshed out.

At first I did not like this book. I absolutely hated it, but I forced myself to read it because that's who I am. Yet the reason I didn't like it was because I was so jealous of everything. This girl makes a dollar a minute babysitting. She's living in New York and basically gets the chance to live the high life. This is really my kind of book. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm almost there and I'm really loving it.

I love this book but it is not a before bedtime book because not only is it: a) not good for kids under 13, b) and it is soo good there is no way to put it down.

I had a great time reading it but i must say i had a super hard time putting the book down because of the good juicy secrets revealed after every page with ophra and boys and girls and lots more this book is like a slam book turned into a story,

Think: disney meets mtv.

This book was about a girl named Adrienne Lewis and how her friend hooked her up for a nannying job for a super rich family in her apartment were she nannies. She gets the job as a nanny to an eight year old girl Emma who acts like shes thirty or something. Adrienne makes great money but is not prepared for some of the obstacles that face her way. She is forced to lie to her best friend and has started a wierd relationship with Emma's older sister taht forces her to lie to her mom. Can Adrienne keep her cool or will she lose her friends trust or more, her friend!

I thought this book was very good. It was a fast read and it was very enjoyable. I myself have been a nanny, and some of the things that Adrienne had to deal with were kind of unbeleiveable and over the top how ever this book was still good. I would Recomend this book to teen girls that need to find a good book to read!

Sixteen-year-old Adrienne Lewis wants nothing more than to make some extra spending money, so she can have some luxurious things in life - cool clothes, parties - so she jumps at the chance to be a "teen nanny," when her best friend, Liz, informs her that the rich Warner family is looking for a nanny for their eight-year-old daughter, Emma. Adrienne lands the job, and is suddenly caught up in the whirlwind of the elite. She is befriended by rich, gorgeous, popular, seventeen-year-old Cameron Warner. A girl who is wild, a liar, and a total user. Unfortunately, Adrienne is unaware of this information, and begins hanging out with the bad seed. Only to find that maybe Cameron isn't really trying to "take her under her wing," so to speak, but rather to steal her boyfriend of two-years, Brian.

From page one I could tell that this was a cross between the "novel-based-on-truth," THE NANNY DIARIES, and the enormously popular GOSSIP GIRLS series. Which is definitely not a bad thing. The characters found in CONFESSIONS OF A TEEN NANNY are gutsy, vicious, spoiled, and oh-so-fun to read about. The Upper East Side is their playground, lavishing them in rich clothes, and boosting their every move onto Page 6. Fans of fun teen fiction, that is brimming with over-the-top characters, and intricate story plots will love Ashton's debut. I only hope that there is more to Adrienne's story, and that I will have a chance to read it. Soon.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

This is a great book to pick up and read on a dull day or to read for a quick read report. Any teen girl can relate to the teen nannies in this book in some way...