Gorgeous (Avery Sisters Trilogy) [Paperback]

Rachel Vail (Author)

Book Description

Series: Avery Sisters Trilogy | Publication Date: April 27, 2010

Allison Avery's cell phone is possessed—literally. Maybe. Growing up between two sisters of blond beauty, fiery and sarcastic Allison is fed up with being invisible. When the devil appears in a dream and offers to trade Allison good looks for her cell phone, she makes the deal. How much damage can a little phone do anyway?

Allison begins to get tons of attention: new friends, a boyfriend, a chance to win a modeling contest. Is it all the devil's work, or is something more mysterious happening?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9–This second book about the Avery sisters retells the events in Lucky (HarperTeen, 2008) from the perspective of middle sister Allison. She sees herself as the plainest of the three, stuck between two pillars of perfection, and wishes she, too, were gorgeous. The ninth grader also has to come to terms with the effect that the loss of her mother's high-powered job has on the entire family. One night, she dreams that she has sold her cell phone to the devil in return for at least seven people who think she is gorgeous, and strangely, after the dream, things start to change in her life. She becomes friends with new girl Roxie Green, who talks her into cutting school and going to Manhattan for an open call for models for teen magazine zip. To her utter amazement, Allison is selected as a finalist in its cover-model contest, but she then has to deal with the fallout from keeping this a secret from her family and from Roxie and with her fading friendship with her best friend. As always, Vail is spot-on in her depictions of young teen girls and their complex relationships with friends and family, and her treatment of the clichéd girl whom everyone thinks is plain becomes successful is fresh, innovative, and realistic. Allison is an engaging, funny character, and girls will identify with her disappointment with her looks and her longing for respect and recognition.–Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Vail (You, Maybe) again demonstrates a penetrating insight into the concerns of young teen girls, this time upending the conventions of the rich–girl novel… Readers will absorb this in one fell swoop.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

Praise for Lucky: “This is superior for its realism, its moderation, and its understated complexity of characters and relationships. Readers will drink up the drama and impatiently await the planned follow up titles.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review) )

“Kindness and understanding emerge in unexpected, fresh, and satisfying ways, and readers will be looking forward to finding out what lies ahead for the Avery family” (School Library Journal )

“Vail shows a clear understanding of the everyday turmoil faced by today’s teens and handles them with wit and obvious affection. If they haven’t already read its predecessor, Lucky (2008), teens will want to after finishing this one. ” (Kirkus Reviews )

“A solid, realistic account of a girl’s beginning to find her own identity.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (April 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060890487
• ISBN-13: 978-0060890483
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rachel Vail Author Biography
Questions


1. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Can't say I have just one, but here is one among many: My father, an avid amateur gardener, had determined to get rid of a rock in the middle of his flower bed in our backyard. The rock turned out to be the size of Tennessee, but he just kept digging for a few years, trying to budge the thing, which created an ever-changing landscape for backyard adventures. My younger brother Jon was my constant companion out there, and our favorite game was "Time Machine," which involved a mysterious metal thing sticking up from the ground - obviously a gear shift for moving into the past or future. Jon was the pilot, in charge of bringing us to different times, depending on how he moved the mysterious metal thing. I was the "teller": I would tell the story of what time period we landed in, what was happening, the dangers we faced, which bad guys were chasing us around the back, the rock, and the Way Back (where we weren't even supposed to go but we did; don't tell!), what we needed to collect around the yard -- a magic gem, a twig from the tree of wonder -- and how we would be able to get back to our time Machine to get back to home and the present when my Mom called to us to come in for dinner.

My younger son was complaining yesterday that the problem with grownups is that they don't play as runny-aroundy as kids. He is absolutely right.


2. What is your favorite memory from when you were a teenager?

How about my least favorite but most useful? I was at a dance at the Rye Golf Club with my best friend, Jill. We had decided to really go for it, get all duded up and mascara'ed. I wore my hottest outfit -- a one-piece, strapless pantsuit. (It was the early 80's; that's what was hot. Trust me.) We had practiced dancing all week: step-together-clap; slightly bored expression combined with slight head-bobbing. Luck was with us at first -- two cute boys came right over to ask us to dance. I looked slightly bored while repeating my mantra internally: step-together-clap, nod. The boy was smiling at me, checking me out. I was succeeding! Jill step-together-clapped her way to my side and said, "Don't panic, but your top fell off." I looked down and there for everybody to see was my white strapless bra, looking like an ace bandage across my lack-of-anything to hold up my wilted outfit. I ran straight to the Ladies' Room with my arms crossed over my chest. Jill was right behind me, and sat beside me on the cold linoleum as I cried. "I was naked," I wailed. "Only briefly," Jill assured me. "I am never leaving this Ladies' Room," I told her. "Okay," she said. "I'll stay here with you." "Forever?" I asked. "Sure," she said. "We'll be two little old ladies here when they come to wreck the building, but we still won't leave." "I'm serious," I said. "Me too," she answered.

I recall that moment whenever I am writing and my character needs to feel the soul-burning humiliation of being exposed in front of the world -- whether figuratively or literally. I can still feel the cold shivers in my fingers, still smell the disinfectant in the restroom, still hear the distant echoes of the disco beat beyond as I sat there feeling utterly stupid and naked and embarrassed. But I also use it when I want to feel how reassuring it is for a character to realize a friend is willing to stick with her forever, no matter what.


3. How did you end up becoming a writer?

What I always loved to do was read, tell stories, imagine being other people, eavesdrop, and not wear shoes. What else could I end up becoming?


4. What other jobs have you tried?

I worked in a book store, which I loved except when people interrupted my reading by trying to make purchases. I was a really good babysitter and a lousy magician but kind of a fun clown at kids' birthday parties. I worked in theater -- acting, directing, selling tickets, dressing and undressing actors (!), ironing costumes, sewing stuff... I still can't make buttons stay on all that well, but I am a pretty decent ironer. I also tutored for SAT's, and GRE's, as well as regular school subjects from bio and algebra to English and writing, and specialized in working with kids who have learning troubles.


5. What first appealed to you about writing for teens?

Well, I started writing my first book when I was 22, so I'd had some recent experience. But really there were two things. I had always looked young for my age, and used to vow to myself that I would remember what it really felt like to be a kid and NEVER condescend when I grew up but rather bear witness to and show respect for the struggles of metamorphosis experienced by a teen going through it. Also, a brilliant playwrighting professor I had in college told us that drama exists in the life-or-death moments: those instances when the character's life is at mortal risk are the scenes you should write. I realized that he had just described pretty much every moment of being a teenager. Just a walk down the corridor in eighth grade can feel like a death march, if somebody looks at you sideways, then slides her eyes away and bends to whisper to somebody else, who turns immediately to look at you -- and snickers. Oh, dread. Life could end or begin at any moment, beside your locker, and the murder weapon, like your pride, might never be recovered. That's what continues to appeal to me about writing for teens: metamorphosis. It's so awful and wonderful and public and extreme.


6. Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Mostly, honestly, in my head. I pick up details of phrases or styles of sitting from watching people all the time, and listening, eavesdropping, on the subway, in the market, in the changing room of a department store. Kids write to me about what they are going through, and of course I have my own journals to re-read, so I mine my own memories and fears and hopes. But mostly my ideas come from wondering: what would happen if my parents suddenly lost all their money? ... if I always thought of myself as kind of funny-looking and suddenly I was chosen for being gorgeous? What if I discovered I was profoundly gifted in some way? What if I learned something shatteringly disappointing about my mom? What if I fell in love with somebody I shouldn't? What if I lied to my best friend and then had to keep lying so she wouldn't find out? What if my best friend lied to me and I found out? What would be the worst thing that could happen to me? What would be the best? But I am not asking those questions of myself, Rachel Vail. I build a character over the course of many months, and then ask those kinds of questions of her - until I get to the start of an answer that is so interesting to me that I have to write a book to find out what happens.


6. Who in your life has especially inspired or motivated you?

So many people have motivated and inspired me -- teachers who asked for revisions and edits and focus; librarians who found books for me and communicated their passion to me; friends who are funny and honest about whatever they are going through and so articulate about expressing their frustrations and ambitions; my husband who believes in me and laughs at all the right moments; my kids who come home with stories and ask to hear mine, again and again, and then give me harsh but loving (and smart) editorial feedback. My brother taught me to tell stories by wanting to play them with me; my parents were my first and most enthusiastic audience (before my kids came along, at least.) Now editors and my agent, who are some of my first readers, press me to think deeper, go further, try new challenges. I'm also inspired by great writers: when I read something I love, I read it again and again, trying to figure out how did he or she DO that? I want to move people the way my favorite writers (from John Steinbeck to Judy Blume to Bruce Springsteen) move me. And finally, readers who write to me with their honest and powerful reactions to my books, asking for sequels and for clarification of what happens after the book ends, who let me know that my characters live on beyond the page, in them -- they are my greatest current inspiration.


7. What do you consider to be the most fun part of your job?

The absolute most fun thing for me as a writer is getting to the point in a book, usually about 20 or more drafts in, when a sentence is changed, sometimes by cutting three words or substituting one phrase for four -- and suddenly the character has just said something so right for her, so true and funny and wise and so unique to that character that nobody else could've said it. That just makes my whole day. Man, I could be happy for a week off one great sentence.


8. What part of your job do you find the most challenging?

The first 19 drafts.


9. If you had to assign a book title to your life, what would it be?

I'm not sure. I'm hoping there will be many more years before that book is done. Maybe, by then, it will be: The Most Brilliant, Happy, Successful, Generous Person Ever. But for right now, I think I would have to go with the title of my new paperback book, which could apply with perhaps less irony to my own phenomenally blessed life: LUCKY.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being tempted to make that deal, May 31, 2009

By 

Rebecca Wilson "Summertime" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorgeous (Avery Sisters Trilogy) (Hardcover)

I ordered this book as soon as I saw it was available because I loved Lucky so much. I couldn't wait to read about the family from another sister's point of view. I finished Gorgeous this weekend an it is even better because some of the things it talks about are important in my own life. I am growing up in a house with a Mom who considers herself some sort of feminist so we don't have conversations about who is pretty. She thinks that is silly. But it isn't silly because everyone my age notices which girls are attractive and maybe that is not a good thing but that's the way it is. When I started reading Gorgeous I really related to Allison because I think I would be tempted to make the same deal, just to be the pretty one and know that I am. Now that I am finished I realize that being gorgeous isn't that great either. I liked the way this worked out for Allison. I almost feel as if this book was written about me and I learned a lot about myself. I am looking forward to Rachel Vail's next book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, May 29, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorgeous (Avery Sisters Trilogy) (Hardcover)

As the middle sister, Allison feels neglected.

She's not beautiful or lucky like her other sisters; she's merely interesting. With all the family drama - something's up with her mom and her job - Allison feels left out.

Allison's best friend is also getting on her nerves. When she hangs out with Roxie Green one day; she just might discover that fun is missing from her life.

She also might have made a bargain with the devil in exchange for people thinking she's gorgeous.

When Allison and Roxie skip school to get a modeling gig, things start to change. All of a sudden Allison has a new best friend and the interest of her crush. Could all this really be happening to her?

GORGEOUS is the simultaneous sequel to LUCKY, the story from Phoebe's perspective - the youngest sister. This is another fun, exciting read from Rachel Vail.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting Review: Gorgeous, August 25, 2009

By 

Enchanting Reviews "Lisa" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gorgeous (Avery Sisters Trilogy) (Hardcover)

GORGEOUS
RACHEL VAIL
Contemporary YA
HarperTeen

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Allison Avery has always felt invisible. The middle child sandwiched between older, smart, talented, and accomplished Quinn and younger, pretty, and popular Phoebe, Allison thinks herself the epitome of mediocrity. It doesn't help that she feels like an ugly duckling in public. And with not-quite-supportive friends, distracted sisters, and parents with their own financial problems, no one has really told her different.

But that all changes the first time Allison hands out with Roxie, a used-to-be big city girl also rumored to be a model. Suddenly Allison realizes she's tired of being the girl in the shadows. So, she makes a deal with the devil. In exchange for gorgeousness, all Allison has to do is let the devil possess her cell phone. Sounds like a great deal, right? Not. Allison's looks may have earned her more popularity, but do her new friends like her for her--or her face? And is her semi-finalist spot in a competition to find America's next teen model all what it's cracked up to be? And now that the devil's control of her phone is wreaking havoc with her personal and social life, Allison has to ask herself--is beauty really worth this?

GOEGEOUS is a witty, unusual, and ultimately charming tale of a girl trying to figure out who she is. Allison is a very likable character every teen girl will be able to relate to in some way; she's very unsure of herself, both in intelligence and looks, she feels dwarfed by the accomplishments of those around her, and she doesn't know who she can completely trust. That's why she gives so little thought to the devil's deal when she's offered beauty. She's just floundering for some confidence, something she can be proud of. This novel is very successful in conveying the importance of learning to love yourself. Despite that people should care about personality rather than image, beauty can be vital to that process of finding confidence, more for the reward of feeling beautiful than just being so. Vail, I felt, was also very effective in this message. For me, that's what set GORGEOUS apart from other novels about body image and beauty even if it all comes down to inner beauty. It also helps that Allison's business with the devil was continually mysterious. In all, GORGEOUS is a sweet story that will be enjoyed by women of all ages.

A resident of New York City, Rachel Vail has written many novels for young adults. GORGEOUS is the second installment in the Avery sisters trilogy; the first book, LUCKY, follows Phoebe's story. Rachel can be visited online at her website: www.rachelvail.com

Rachael Stein
Enchanting Reviews
August 2009