Customer Reviews

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

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4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
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Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen Candlewick Press, 2002
272 pages,
ISBN: 0763618489

Lights, Camera, Action! Mary Elizabeth Cep (preferably Lola, after the star of Damn Yankees) is moving from glamorous New York City, to Dellwood, "Deadwood", New Jersey. She has to start totally over, which for her, mean proving herself to a whole new group of people.
Lola has based her whole life on a Broadway play, and she's the main star. So when she sets off to make a statement, and become the star of the small, suburban town of Dellwood, she comes across Carla Santini, who thinks she's the star of Dellwood. Their instant enemies, but their feud makes the book a major laugh and enjoyable fight after fight.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a brilliant story of the challenges of growing up, combined with a twist of unique encounters Lola faces. Dyan Sheldon creates such a story that you can't help but have the book become your new best friend. As the book unfolds before you, you're addicted to it without choice. You soon become part of the book, one of the characters, feeling and seeing all. Sheldon uses dialogue and problems that teenagers can easily relate to, making it the perfect book.
Whenever I think of this book, I think of it as a "chick flick" in the book form. Boys can read it, but girls will fall in love with it. I could keep raving and raving about this book but my final words are this: this story, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, soon becomes your story- every single one of us has an inner drama queen, and this book sure proves it!

I thought that this was a relatively fun, fresh book, but there was some... shall I say bad things about it.

Mary Cep, or as she stubbornly likes to be known as Lola, is a major drama queen. She is positive she will be the next big thing in Hollywood. Some time. When Lola's mother moves her and her two totally gross little sisters out of New York City and into the suburbs, Lola is sure she will be the savior to so many poor souls in Dellwood. Or as she calls it, Deadwood. Then she meets Carla Santini, the local bully and snob, and that whole part of the book's (the WHOLE book!) is pretty predictable. It's through Lola's obsessive love for her favorite band, Sidhartha, that Lola gets her and her best friend and "sister of my soul", Ella, alot of... adventure.

I won't give away the rest. Parts of this book was really funny and it was hard not to laugh out loud, whether I was in public or not, but Lola's interpretation of every thing got boring. Finally when you get to the exciting part, it's Lola's friend, Ella, who is being more of the heroine.

I felt that this book ended alot like it began. In "the Big Freeze". The book is worth reading, but still lacking in many ways.

~Atalanta

Julianne Labrecque
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
by Dyan Sheldon
If you read often, you are aware what a good book consists of. The title of a good book draws you in, and won't let you stop reading until you are done, leaving you begging for a sequel. Compelling, realistic characters with real faults and problems like us, interesting plots that twist and turn in such a way that you can never guess what's coming always add up to a highly acclaimed and appreciated book. One book that I know to contain all these things is Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, by Dyan Sheldon. The basic summary of this book is as follows. Mary Cep (who prefers to be called Lola) is a dramatic teenage girl who is forced by her mother to move to "Deadwood" New Jersey. Lola absolutely hates it, until she meets Ella Gerard. Ella becomes her best friend and "soul sister". The thing about Ella is that she is a great student, very polite, very shy, and keeps to herself. Lola is the exact opposite. This is one reason that this book is so compelling, because of the contrasting characters. In the middle of the book, Sidhartha, Ella and Lola's favorite band, breaks up, but first announces they are having one last concert. Ella and Lola plan everything out so they can sneak to NY to see the concert. They ride on a train, but they lose their money and when they get to the concert, they don't have enough for a ticket! A little ways after, they are back at home, where Ella's parents have no idea they even left. Carla Santini, the most popular girl in the grade, insists she didn't even see them at the after-party, even though Lola and Ella claim they were there...or were they? Everyone believes Carla, so how will Lola and Ella convince everyone that they really went to the Sidhartha concert?
The main characters in this book are hysterical, yet very believable. The main cast consists of Lola, Ella, and Carla Santini. Lola, of course, is highly melodramatic; this makes her adored by her friend Ella. Lola is always thinking the opposite of everyone else, of her acting career, and of herself, a trait which she doesn't realize she has: selfishness. She doesn't often stop to care about what others are feeling and thinking; to Lola the world is hers and hers alone, and everyone cares about even her tiniest worries. She tends to tell some pretty tall tales also. By the end of the book, Lola realizes this and changes her look on things . Ella, a polite, quiet member of the Gerard family (known to be perfect at all times) is very loyal to Lola, and learns to be more outgoing. Ella learns from Lola that not everything has to be perfect. The connection between these two works well for both their personalitlies, and as they become accustomed to the other, they take upon themselves the attitude of the other, except not quite as extreme. Ella learns to speak up. Lola learns to not always be the center of attention. The next character is Carla Santini, the high ruler of the BTW's (Born to Win's) is tall, skinny, pretty, and everyone looks up to her (excluding Ella and Lola.) From the beginning, she detests Lola, and is always looking for ways to make her mad. At first her tricks don't daunt Lola, but near the end, Lola breaks down under all the pressure. Carla uses her popularity to get whatever she wants, and she wants everyone to hate Lola.
When I discovered this book, my friend was very absorbed in it and wouldn't let me begin her copy until she was done. This gave me the correct impression that it was a really good book. As soon as I got my hands on it, I started reading. The beginning of this book draws you in so much, you forget where you really are and assume you are on the steps of Deadwood High. The style of writing in this book is very dramatic, narrated by Lola herself through the whole book. The genre is realistic fiction. It was definitely a page turner; the pace is fast and there is constantly conflict. I myself really personally connected with Lola, because I have lost important money before too, and I know how she felt. If I had to use five adjectives to describe this book, I would use: witty, funny, inspiring, dramatic and romantic. Teens and adults alike will enjoy this wonderful "comedy of errors" by Dyan Sheldon, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

This book is about a teenager who is dealing with hard things teenagers go through. I did like this book because this girl was confident in what she did and she handled things great. Yes, I recommend other people to read this book because it shows the difficulties teenagers go through and it enlightens you in a way where you understand har life. The dialogue was believable because that's the way teenagers are today. My favorite character was Mary because she was confident, bright, and cheerful. I did not like Carla because she was rude to people who were not popular. The author wrote in a way that I could picture what was happening.

This book is great for anyone that has dreams they think will never come true. Lola moves to Dellwood, New Jersey and thinks it is the most boring place. All she wants is to become a famous actress, and now it seems impossible. When she hears her favorite band is breaking up, she just has to get tickets to their last concert and her rival, Carla, already has them. To find out what happens to Lola, read this book. It is great. I usually don't like reading, but this book i just couldn't put down.

Weell! I loved this book! I checked it out in the libary because my mom nudged me and went "that sounds like you!" That book gave m,e ideas. 1. I wore a cape to school after reading the book. I am dead on serious. It was fun. 2. I have moods now. 3. I am as passionate as Juliet in a fit of confession ?(excuse the pun)WHO IS THE qUEEN OF dRAMA QUEENS. I felt that this is a book of high quality, and I'm sorta out of the reviewer's mood today. Sorry, but I highly recomend the book

Mary "Lola" Cep (or Sep) is a drama queen with flair. After you read this book you see the world in a whole new light. Like, well, am I brave enough to what she did.... and stuff like dat. It's a great book!

I read this book about two- three years ago and it really was a interesting story. It wasn't untill the movie "Connfessions of A Teenage Drama Queen" that I remembered the book. I rented the movie and as i watched it, my mind started to put the story toghether. By the tail end of the movie i already knew what was going to happen at the end. The movie pretty much does the book justice, but so does Lindsey Lowhand who plays "lola". I suggest read the book , then rent the movie!

When I first started reading this book I was like ' How dull some freaky girl who is basically a as the title says Drama queen.' But as i got into the book I realised that Lola ( as she prefers to be called, is a lot more than that. Like any teenage girl of course. This story tell sabout a spontanious girl who isn't afraid to show how crazy she truly is.

This book is about a girl named Lola. She moves to Dellwood, New Jersey from exciting New York City. When she arrives at her new house she meets her new best friend Ella, who is one of the only people who doesn't follow around Carla. Carla is basically the queen of the school and she is now Lola's new enemy. It is because Lola draws attention to herself, which takes it away from Carla. Lola loves theater so when she hears about the school play she couldn't be more excited, except maybe for seeing her all time favortie band Sidharta. When she hears that Carla has always been the lead in every single school play Lola knows this will not end well.

I thought this was a good book because it was interesting and was talking about a teenagers life. This book did exaderate the life of a teenage girl at highschool, but it still was a good read. The portrayal of Lola's life was really interesting because it showed the somewhat truth of how everyone wants to be in the popular group. This book was easy to relate to because of Lola's struggels and what she had to deal with. The ending was also something that you wouldn't expect.

Moving away from home is never an easy adjustment for anyone, especially moving away from the vibrant upbeat Manhattan to the dull suburbs of New Jersey. When Mary Elizabeth a.k.a. Lola, leaves her adored home, her title as the drama queen stays behind.
Unfortunately, Carla Santini has already snatched the drama queen title at her new school. However, Lola bathes in the lime light and is willing to fight for her spot back in center stage.
When Lola scores the lead role in the play Pygmalion, the character that the elegant Carla wanted to play, her entire school shuns her. Lola's life seems to speed down a rocky waterfall as she struggles to suffer in the unrefined wasteland which she calls "Dead Wood." She can't even get tickets to her favorite rock band while Carla of course snagged the them.
Luckily, through it all, she befriended Ella Gerard, who joined her on several journeys such as betraying her parents to go to a concert.
Dyan Sheldon leads us through a typical tale of the good girl verses the bad girl in which, as predicted, the good girl always wins. Antics after antics, the reader follows each and every obstacle Lola faces until the very end where fate takes over.
From the very first chapter, the rest of the book can easily be determined even if you aren't a physic. For instance, when Lola ponders converting the dull uncultured town into sophisticated geniuses like herself, it is obvious that her plan will not turn out, showing the moral that underestimating is pure unintelligence.
Although not everyone is quite the dramatic, preppy, girly girl, Sheldon does almost accurately portray a teenager's life. Gradually, a message is unfolded that being different isn't easy, but it is okay.
This is a novel many could relate to, considering it even wraps in some famous stars teens admire today.
Personally, I am not the one that would be caught rolling on the floor hysterically laughing as I skipped among the pages of a book, but I must admit some of it I found (silently) amusing. Plus, its simplicity, yet its hidden depth made it easy to read.
After reading the book, I moved on to bigger and better things, a.k.a. watching the movie which was a drastic disappointment not just because of Lindsey Lohan's "talent". The charming little details that kept the book going were completely absent from the movie which made it cheesy, corny, and conceivably childish.
Following Lola through her artsy mood swings, antics, hopeless determination, and even silliness made me ponder that perhaps everyone has a little bit of "drama queen" blood in them!