Lily B. on the Brink of Cool [Paperback]

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Lily B.

Meet me, Lily B.,
Aspiring Writer
Extraordinaire:

Likes: Recording daily events in my journal (which will be widely read and praised when I become famous)

Dislikes: Family Outings, people who make their own beds in hotels (read: MY MOTHER), and most of the items in my closet as they are all incredibly uncool

Summer Plans: Since my best friend, Charlotte, abandoned me to attend Young Executive Camp, I figured I was doomed for a vacation of boredom and Family Outings. But something exciting has happened! I met the coolest girl, Karma, and her incredibly cool family, the LeBlancs. And guess what? We're related! This summer is looking up, my friends, and I think I just might be on the brink of cool. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Lily Blennerhassett's summer can't get any worse. Her best friend has left to attend Young Executive Camp and life at home is absolutely uninteresting. To stave off the boredom, she records her up-to-the-minute thoughts and the details of her life in her journal. Then she meets Charles and Veronique LeBlanc and their daughter Karma at cousin Delia's wedding. The LeBlancs are sophisticated, they care about the environment, and they DO things. Lily gets swept up in their causes, recording all the events in her diary, which also details how these professional con artists use this naive 13-year-old, abuse her trust, and eventually sue her family for $1.3 million. The pacing of the book is fast and smooth. Attuned readers will catch on to the con game, as there's a hint of unease in Lily's meetings with Karma that's exciting yet creepy. Lily is a likable teen who wants more than she has, only to discover that what she has is pretty darn good. By book's end, she has changed from a whiny kid who judges everyone to a wiser person who can question those judgments.
Linda Bindner, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. The popularity of Louise Rennison's Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (2000) has produced a number of humorous books in diary form. Kimmel follows the trend in this funny, fast-moving, if somewhat self-conscious, novel. Thirteen-year-old Lily, burdened with boring parents, plans to be an author. Summer looks bleak, with Lily's best friend, Charlotte, away at Young Executives Camp. Forced to attend a wedding in a horrible dress, Lily is delighted to meet "Cool People"--Karma LeBlanc and her parents, distant relatives who flaunt the rules of society. Despite her parents' warnings not to associate with them, Lily succumbs to the LeBlancs' flattery and the chance to be cool. They convince Lily to hand over the keys to her family's beach house without telling her parents. But are the LeBlancs who they seem to be? Readers can see trouble approaching, but Lily doesn't notice a thing until it's all over, and she reads what she's written in her diary. She discovers that the diary has all of the makings of an actual book--drama, suspense, foreshadowing--maybe she's a writer after all. Louise Brueggeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (October 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060005866
• ISBN-13: 978-0060005863
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,575,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Kimmel Willard, the pen name for Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, is a lifetime Little House enthusiast. She is the author of many books for children, including the Lily B. series. She lives in Cold Spring, New York, with her husband and their daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! One of my favorite books!, August 26, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Lily B. on the Brink of Cool (Library Binding)

I absolutely LOVED this book!!! I laughed and laughed and laughed... sometimes something would be so funny I'd run into the other room and tell it to my mom, and she'd laugh too. The review a seventh grader wrote about the characters being "cardboard," well, you have to appreciate the book for what it is. The story is about a naive seventh grader who's totally bored with her life. Elizabeth Cody Kimmel wasn't TRYING to write a deep, thoughtful book. She was trying to write a lighthearted, fun-to-read story for young girls. I suppose if you're used to books that make you think, you might not care for this one as much, but personally, as the eleven year old that I am, I LOVED it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lily B on the Brink of Cool By Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, February 9, 2005

By 

Kaileigh - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lily B. on the Brink of Cool (Library Binding)

Lily Blennerhassett has to write in a journal what she does every day for an assignment for her teacher the next year. Every year Lily and her best friend spend the summer together. They would go to sporting camps, and overnight camps together. But one year Lily's best friend, Charlotte decides to go to a Young Exectutive Camp. Lily doesn't want to go because she doesnt want to do more work over the summer. So Lily decides that she will be bored to death all summer. When her best friend left for the camp she knew that she would miss her, so she decided to go meet a knew frined for the summer. She didn't have any luck finding anyone, and her cousins wedding was the night Charlotte left. While Lily was at her cousin's wedding she saw some people she had never met before. Later she found out that they were related to her. Lily statred to hang out with them and got really close. But she didn't know that all they were going to do was betray her. Their names were Charles, Veronica, and Karma. Karma was Lily's age so they had alot in common. They would go shopping and out to dinner with each other. Untill one day when they asked if they could stay in Lily's lake house. Without asking her parents Lily allowed them to. They ended up trashing the place and sueing Lily's parents for no reason. Lily lost track of Charoltte and forgot all about her untill she came home from her camp. LIly cried and cried because she knew it was all her falut she lost her friend, but there was nothing to do.
Is Lily going to get her friend back or is she going to lose her best friend forever?
My recommendation is that anyone who likes to read about friendship should read this book. Also my recommendation is to girls because it's about a girl and i don't think that a boy would like to read this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's hard to imagine a more endearing character than Lily., June 16, 2004

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lily B. on the Brink of Cool (Library Binding)

Future biographers of Lily Blennerhassett, rejoice! Lily B. is keeping a journal to assist you in your work (and also because she needs the credits for Advanced English). Yes, Lily expects to be a great novelist one day, winning all kinds of accolades and awards. In the meantime, her life is dull with a capital D --- especially this summer.

Her best friend Charlotte leaves to attend Young Executive Camp. Lily's parents drag her off on Family Outings to tour accordion manufacturers, learn how to spin yarn, make cornhusk dolls, and other adolescent tortures. Well, let's face it: Lily's parents are uninteresting. Her father drives the speed limit in the fast lane. Her mother cares so much that people won't find them untidy that she makes their beds while staying at motels.

Ho hum.

Excitement skyrockets into her boring existence when Lily meets the glamorous LeBlanc family. Karma and her parents, Charles and Veronique, are Cool People. They're beautiful, dress amazingly, and care about the important things in life, such as the environment and vegetarianism. Lily herself must be on the brink of cool to be hanging out with these hip folks. But why have Lily's parents forbidden her to spend time with the LeBlancs? When Lily stakes all for her fabulous friendship, her life becomes a nightmare.

The story, told in rapid-fire diary entries, grabs the reader. I sat down to read a few pages and, gripped by the mystery of Lily's new buddies, finished the book in one enjoyable sitting. It's hard to imagine a more endearing character than Lily, who grows and changes throughout the story in a most satisfying manner. Elizabeth Cody Kimmel expresses essential themes --- the importance of family and the meaninglessness of appearances --- skillfully and joyfully. This is the stuff of which rabid fans are made. Oh, how I am hoping for a sequel!

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (...)