The Debutante [Paperback]

Kathryn Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2009

Annie McRae has her whole senior year planned out. Early acceptance to Brown University, a field hockey scholarship to pay the bills, and days spent with her best friend Jamie and her boyfriend Jake. It is going to be perfect. Then her parents ruin it all by moving--to Alabama. Now, Annie finds herself in an unfamiliar world where she isn't even sure she speaks the same language. To top it off, she discovers that if she ever wants to escape back to her comfortable Yankee life, she will have to become a debutante. As in white-dress-wearing, perfect-manners-practicing, curtsying girly-girl. Fighting every step of the way, Annie spends the year learning to be a lady. Along the way, she discovers that friends can come from the most unlikely of places and that change is not always a bad thing...

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; Reprint edition (August 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423100468
• ISBN-13: 978-1423100461
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,864,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting YA Review: The Debutante, July 4, 2008

By 

Enchanting Reviews "Lisa" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Debutante (Hardcover)

THE DEBUTANTE
KATHRYN WILLIAMS

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

Annie's about to go through the most traumatic experience of her life so far, moving from Connecticut, to Beaufort, Alabama, right before the start of her senior year of high school. And if that wasn't bad enough, Beaufort is home to her crazy younger cousins and even worse, her very southern, very traditional grandmother.

But things can get worse before they get better, especially when Annie's grandmother drops the bomb that she expects Ann Gordon to debut like all other proper young ladies. Annie can't imagine doing such a thing, but if she wants her grandmother's help to pay for university, she just may be forced to don a puffy white dress in July and all the other headaches that go along with becoming a debutante in the south.

Annie slowly learns to maneuver her new life in Beaufort, getting used to being called by her full name of Ann Gordon by people other than her grandmother and learning to deal with the fact that there's no way out of her making her debut as The Debutante. And maybe, things in the south aren't as bad as she actually expected them to be.

I really enjoyed this book. Annie's a great character, who finds herself uprooted and taken away from everything she's ever known and dropped into what seems like an entirely different world in Alabama. A world filled with people with two first names; a field hockey team that isn't the strong, championship winning team she's used to being a part of. But in the midst of it all, the friends she makes might just be the one thing to keep her sane.

THE DEBUTANTE is Ms. Williams's first book.

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
February 2008

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming, March 24, 2010

By 

Kathy "Bookworm Nation" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Debutante (Paperback)

So this was a fun read that totally sucks you into the Southern charm of Alabama. Annie goes through quite the change as the book progresses. At first she is very upset with her parents for dragging her away from her friends and life in Connecticut to the slower paced lifestyle and demanding Grandmother in Alabama. I imagine it would be rather hard to move your senior year in high school and I felt bad for Annie when I put myself in her shoes. I'm glad she made friends and started to make the best of the situation. There were a couple lose ends I wish would have been tied up. First, at the beginning of the story Annie receives a box from her best-friend Jamie, to open in a time of crisis. The box is soon forgotten and I'm curious what was inside! Second, I wanted there to be some resolution between Annie and her Connecticut friends, maybe open the box and bring back old memories and reconciliation ensues? Anyway, it was a cute read and I enjoyed learning a little etiquette along the way (something I'm probably in need of). It reminded me of a Tina Ferraro or Janette Rallison novel, with a little less romantic comedy.

It does contain underage smoking/drinking, but otherwise very clean.


Bookworm Rating: 3.5
[...]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Than You Think, So Check It Out!, October 25, 2008

By 

Shooting Stars Magazine (Ky,Ma,) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Debutante (Hardcover)

Annie McRae is not what you would ever call a girly-girl. Therefore, when her parents make her move from her home in Connecticut to Beaufort, Alabama, where her grandmother is insistent on making her a debutante, Annie isn't quite what you would call pleased. Moving might seem like a complete nightmare at first, but as time goes on, Annie realizes it might not be all that she expected...in a good way. She gets away from a cheating boyfriend and meets a completely new boy named Robert who is cute and a southern gentlemen; she leaves behind untrustworthy friends, and meets some that are always willing to help. Becoming a debutante might not have been on Annie's to-do list before dying, but she finds that when she just pays attention to her more then herself, she can become a new person entirely.

I really enjoyed The Debutante more then I thought I would. Like Annie, I'm not that girly and usually don't gravitate towards those books, but don't let the cover, or the title, throw you off from this book. Annie is sarcastic and fun, but more important, you can relate to her, which is great in novels. I thought the writing was great and the characters were realistic...now if only I could find my own Robert.

For fans of The Princess Diaries for sure! I think we have another Mia on our hands with this one!


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