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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
::Crystal::, November 1, 2005
Crystal is 16-year-old girl who has the begging stage of a modeling carrier, in her hometown New York. At first modeling is exciting for Crystal but soon it becomes less about her and more about her body/appearances. When her friend Rowena goes to the hospital over stress and trying to kill her self, Crystal realizes modeling is hard work and not fun and games. Especially when she has a big movie deal with the famous movie writer, Joe Sidney, he tries to get in her pants and make her do things she doesn't want to do, like change her name. Crystal also has the pressure to model from her mom, who could have been a model too but never through with her aspirations, and her dad, who wants Crystal to experience different things but also make a good living.
This book had allot of different conflicts but the only thing that really irritated me was that they wouldn't say the problem was resolved or something else happened you would just have to keep reading and figure it in the next chapter, which was very frustrating but kept me reading!
I thought this book was well written and had a very good plot line. When the plot line got stared it seemed like it would be predictable and the more you read it wouldn't go as predictable as you would think. I also think this was a good book because it showed a different side of modeling and its not all about the glamour and being famous. It made you think about the dark side of some models have to do. The only bad thing about the book was that the ending wasn't very interesting, it just basically wrapped of the book up and finished with a bad ending, I think the ending would have been okay if their was a sequel to Crystal that explained more about her decision and her life more.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Struggles of an black teenage model, May 30, 2005
Walter Dean Myer's novel Crystal (1987) is about how a 16-year-old professional model living in New York learns the truth about what it takes to be in the fashion world. This book is recommended to grades 8-12 and also anyone who wants to know what the fashion industry is like.
At 16, Crystal Brown is in the spotlight as a black fashion model. The world of money, bling bling, fame, and celebrities are all a part of her life. Her career take a lot of time away from family, friends, school, and regular teen attributes. As a model, Crystal has to work with a photographer with a bad temper, and an agent who is very demanding. While Crystal's mother is very supportive of her daughter's success, her father is very protective of his baby girl. In the end, Crystal is stuck with making a career decision that might change her life.
I like this book because it tells me what the fashion world is and what it's like to be in it. The kind of conflict seen in this book is Man vs Society. The novel is effective because it shows how Crystal has to deal with all types of people in the fashion industry and try not to break. The strength of this book is that it teaches you how to survive in a competitive world of fame. The weakness of this book is that it doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat like I thought it would. I think people who are interested in getting to the fashion world should read this book because it shows you the inside world of the fashion industry. This book kind of reminded me of the book Just Say No by Omar Tyree because both show you the inside to the life of fame. Although both show you the inside life of fame Just Say No is more interesting to me because I want to be a singer so it can tell how the music business works .So I recommended this book to grades 8-12 and also anyone who wants to know what the fashion industry is like.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5, really. Well-researched, brilliantly told., January 3, 2003
A Kid's Review
CRYSTAL is a fine book with an important message. I love the vivid pictures of the modeling world, and the way Crystal herself is such a real girl. She's beautiful, but you won't hate her for being so lucky, because Myers keeps her real and presents the downsides of modeling and Crystal's life being devoured by it. While it's aimed at girls ages 10-14, older girls would enjoy it also. The only reason I took of half a star is the ending. I won't spoil that for you, but if you've read it, maybe you noticed that Crystal has no ther talents, as far as we know, besides her modeling. If Myers had developed her poetry more, or schoolwork or acting or anything, given her a talent besides being gorgeous, then I would be more satisfied. Perhaps she could have gone into a different, less sexy kind of modeling; cereal ads, TV commercials, whatever; or maybe she could have a talent like poetry (which she has, but it's not mentioned very often) that she could turn to. But I really loved this book. Myers is so good at thinking as Crystal would: for example, Crystal is meeting a new person, and it says something like "In her mind, Crystal made the woman up. Powder, a less ridiculous lip color, mascara...it didn't help." Of course, a model would think of make up. It's so perfectly told. I also like the fact that Crystal is black, and beautiful. It teaches African-American girls that they don't need pink apple cheeks and golden hair to be pretty--and also, that your looks are tiny compared to what's inside you. All in all, it's a terrific book, well-researched and brilliantly told. Read it!
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