Girl of the Moment [Kindle Edition]

Lizabeth Zindel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8–10—The summer before senior year, Lily is trying to boost her chances of getting into Brown. When her internship at the Museum of Modern Art falls through, she uses her dad's connections to become an assistant to Sabrina Snow, a Lindsay Lohan-ish celebrity. Predictably, Snow holds Lily to impossible expectations and rarely shows appreciation. Meanwhile, her noncelebrity boyfriend falls for Lily, who, despite genuine affection for him, rejects his advances because of her commitment to Sabrina. A side plot involving a letter from a desperate fan and Lily's efforts to help the tormented preteen takes center stage toward the end, helping Lily to realize what really counts. Like Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada (Doubleday, 2003), this book attempts to give readers a glimpse into the secret lives of the rich and famous. More often, it falls prey to paragraphs overflowing with clichés, stilted dialogue, and poor characterization. Well into the book, readers lack key information about the narrator. Zindel fails to make her funny or interesting, so much so that she becomes a poor choice as a window into Sabrina's life. While the flashy cover will draw readers to this book, they will reluctantly trudge through the story, wishing they had a wittier guide at the helm.—Jennifer Barnes, Homewood Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Celebrity-obsessed teens will clamor for this first novel by famed author Paul Zindel's daughter. After high-school-senior Lily Miles lands a summer internship with teen celebrity Sabrina Snow, she learns firsthand how messed up the lives of the rich and famous can be. Sabrina is manipulative, backstabbing, and unbelievably demanding, and readers will cheer as Lily slowly gets up the nerve to tell her off and do the right thing. With a domineering mother, an eating disorder, and an ever-present cockapoo puppy, Sabrina seems like a collage of real-life teen celebrities. Zindel works as a producer with Maverick Films (Madonna's entertainment company), so it's a safe bet that she knows of what she writes. This is a book of the moment, but for the moment, it offers lots of light fun. Debbie Carton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 534 KB
• Print Length: 292 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0142411043
• Publisher: Speak (March 13, 2008)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001F37L26
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,580 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Lizabeth resides in New York where she is currently working on her second novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book of the Moment, April 8, 2007

By 

Vicki L. Deal "andrew's elizabeth" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Girl of the Moment (Hardcover)

I was apprehensive to start reading this book because I thought it would be too geared toward the younger teens. On the contrary, I found that it has a mature underlying theme and will spark discussion on the true happiness of the teen starlets we see in the headlines everyday. But don't let that fool you into thinking it has no edge. The characters are incredibly relatable to a teenage girl. I found myself recognizing some of the personalities of the characters as people I know. Not to mention it is always fun to speculate on who the starlet is supposed to be. It is a quick read (I read it in less than a day) and has a plot that reads more like a gossip column than a novel. Girl of the Moment captures your interest from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the last. I hope everyone can enjoy this book as much as I did.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book of the Moment =), July 29, 2007

By 

Paige (Here.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girl of the Moment (Hardcover)

Lemme start out by saying that I broke an important rule in the Book Lover's Code of Conduct. "Don't judge a book by its cover." I mean, the cover of this book is amazing, I couldn't stop staring at it, so I just got the book. Then, later, I thought I would regret it, but thank God I didn't!

This book is great. It's a fast read, and it's really well-written. I like how the author didn't make Sabrina Snow like all the other teen pop stars in fiction. At the beginning of the book, Sabrina seems like a sweet girl, until you dig into her territory (including her boyfriend). Near the end, that's where her true personality comes out.

To sum things up, Lily Miles gets a job as an intern for rising star, Sabrina Snow. She thinks everything will be fabulous, but it's so hard to work for someone like Sabrina, who can be demanding. Very demanding. Mixed up with all of Lily's mess-ups is a forbidden kind of romance, and the lesson of staying true to yourself.

This book has morals in it, and it gives you a sneek peek into the life of the glamorous. I really enjoyed it.

Hope to read more from Lizabeth Zindel soon.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an interesting, amusing peek at the rewards and challenges of working for a famous movie starlet, June 1, 2007

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girl of the Moment (Hardcover)

Lily is determined to become an intern for the summer, but her first job is cancelled --- which works out to her advantage when 16-year-old Hollywood movie star sensation Sabrina Snow needs someone to work for her. Lily is ecstatic to interview, even though getting the job would mean missing out on going to camp with her best friend and not seeing her crush, Max.

The interview goes well, although Lily ends up selling her nude drawing of Max (created from imagination) to Sabrina at the star's insistence. Before committing to hiring her, Sabrina invites Lily to attend Sabrina's movie premiere, where she manages to fall down on the red carpet. Lily is in charge of dog-sitting Sabrina's little pooch, Mercedes --- who gets away from her and urinates on Sabrina's director.

Sabrina is furious with Lily, but she's even angrier when she notices that Lily is dancing with Sabrina's hunky, funny and nice boyfriend, Bronson. Happily for Lily, Sabrina still hires her, although the star warns her in no uncertain terms to stay away from Bronson.

One of Lily's jobs is sending form letter answers to those who write mail to Sabrina. One letter, in which the fan pleads for Sabrina's help dealing with cruel school bullies, haunts her. However, when Lily tries to get Sabrina involved, the young star simply scoffs. Meanwhile, Lily jeopardizes her job by letting someone not on the list into a press gathering, and the person makes trouble.

Sabrina goes all out to make Lily look ridiculous in front of Bronson, who continues to befriend her. Meanwhile, Lily can't get the desperate fan letter writer out of her mind. What can she do? Lily realizes she's headed for trouble but can't seem to stop her life from careening out of control.

GIRL OF THE MOMENT is an interesting, amusing peek at the rewards and challenges of working for a famous movie starlet. Although a few of the plot twists seem slightly far-fetched, and Sabrina and her friends are predictable stock characters, this was an enjoyable read with a surprising amount of substance beneath the froth.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon