The Nannies [Library Binding]

Melody Mayer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Nannies | Publication Date: September 13, 2005

Good girls.
Life in La Crosse couldn’t be any blah-er. Kiley’s way out? A pricey school in California that she can only afford if she’s a resident of the Golden State. That’s why she’s on Platinum Nanny, vying for the chance to work for a wacko rock star–or be sent home nationally humiliated.
Wild girls.
Lydia has spent eight years stuck in the Amazon with her do-gooding parents. When her aunt offers her a lifeline–babysitting in posh Bel Air–Lydia hops the next plane to civilization. Pucci sandals, poolside cabanas, clubbing in Hollywood It spots–was there even a question she’d accept? Now she just has to find a cute pool boy to make up for all that lost time. . . .
Wilder boys.
Moving into the guesthouse of one of Beverly Hills’ most powerful families isn’t exactly what Esme had in mind for a summer job. Neither was losing her head over Jonathan, her new boss’s almost famous (and already hot) son. Safe to say her boyfriend isn’t going to like this.
Grab your sunglasses and welcome to The Nannies, a crazy world of Hollyweird backstabbing and skyscraping palm trees, spoiled tots and private swim lessons. But how hard can a nanny job be?
After all, eight to four is kid time. After that? It’s our time.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Three very different teens meet and become friends in this enjoyable read. Kiley McCann dreams of attending school in California to become a marine biologist, but the cost is prohibitive. A possible solution comes in the form of a reality TV show called Platinum Nanny, a competition to choose the caretaker of a rock star's children. Lydia Chandler's parents renounced their wealthy lifestyle to practice medicine in the Amazon basin. Longing for civilization, Lydia is thrilled when she is offered the opportunity to be a nanny for her aunt in Beverly Hills. Esme Castaneda grew up surrounded by gangs and violence in Echo Park, CA. Her immigrant parents work for the wealthy Goldhagens, a couple who have recently adopted twin girls from Colombia. They are quick to offer Esme the position of looking after the girls upon hearing her speak to them in their native language. The teens meet at the Brentwood Country Club and become friends. Less mean-spirited than the Gossip Girls, the story has elements that most teenage girls can relate to. Kiley, with an alcoholic father and a mother who is prone to panic attacks, is forced to be self-sufficient; Lydia is uninhibited and outspoken thanks to her years away from civilization; and Esme is torn between a life she knows and one of opportunity–but opportunity comes at a price. Underage drinking and talk about sex make the novel most appropriate for an older audience, but the cover will most likely attract younger readers.–Michele Capozzella, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The nanny's story has been popular since Jane Eyre. This novel gives it a chick lit veneer and manages to rise above the genre's constraints. Three California girls do the nanny thing. Kiley is a contestant on the reality show Platinum Nanny; Lydia escapes the Amazon rain forest, where her parents work, when her lesbian aunt asks her to care for her kids in Bel Air; and Esme, who comes from east L.A., is offered a job in a Beverly Hills home because she can speak Spanish to the recently adopted orphans from Colombia. This is mostly froth, but it is well written (though with some foul language), and it makes a decent stab at some social issues, such as the effect Esme's new life has on her relationship with her friends and family. For more nanny adventures direct readers to Melissa de la Cruz's series about au pairs. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Library Binding: 288 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (September 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385903006
• ISBN-13: 978-0385903004
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,627,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Nannies!, October 19, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Nannies (Paperback)

I am the kind of girl who reads everything, from classics to fun books like Gossip Girl, and even authors like Laurie Halse Anderson and Chris Lynch. I have to say that The Nannies is my favorite fun book that I have read in a long time. All three girls are so likable in their own way. Kiley is the girl that you can most relate to, because she's normal and trying to reach her dream. The girl Esme from the rough part of Los Angeles is very practical and has a lot of experience that most girls don't. The girl Lydia, who lived in the Amazon, is the funniest of the three. What I liked most about the book is that the girls all had very strong goals, and the book was about them reaching those goals. There are plenty of cute guys and great shopping along the way, too!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun summer read, June 15, 2006

By 

bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nannies (Paperback)

The Nannies was a fast, fun read, not much different from the ritzy Gossip Girl series. The Nannies is about three different girls who come to LA for different nanny positions. Lydia, who has spent the recent years of her life in the Amazon, wrangling any magazines she could get her hands on, jumps at the chance to be the nanny for her cousins, children of her famous tennins-playing aunt. Kylie, who grew up in an invisible small town in Wisconsin, tries out for Platinum Nanny, a reality TV competition to become the nanny for the bratty kids of their even more bratty pop-star mother, Platinum. Finally, there's Esme, who grew up in the gang-filled, poverty-struck Echo Park, a little distance from LA. When Esme goes to the mansion of the famous Goldhagens where her parents are the help, she is convinced to be the Goldhagen's nanny for their adopted Colombian twins, Easton and Weston, also as a translator between the twins' Spanish and the Goldhagens' English. Enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even Better Than Traveling Pants!, October 9, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Nannies (Paperback)

When I got this book I was very nervous, because the cover made it look like was going to be for my little sister. Then I started reading it in the bookstore, and it is now my favorite book of the year. There are three girls who all come from different backgrounds. None of them is rich, but all of them end up in Beverly Hills working for rich Beverly Hills families. These families are kind of crazy. The main girl, Kiley, ends up working for a single rock star who has three kids from three different fathers. The girls meet pretty early in the book, and the difference between this and Traveling Pants is that you get to see the friendship of the girls in action, instead of having different stories that are not connected. Each of the main girls is cool in their own way. The girl from Texas who got moved to the Amazon jungle is probably the funniest of the three. The Nannies is just a great read for girls, and I guarantee that you will love it.