Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Amazing Effort By Cabot, July 30, 2004
Seventeen-year-old high school junior, Jenny (Jen) Greenley has always been great at solving everyone's problems. Friendships, relationships, parents, work, anything you have a problem with, she'll help you. Which is why she is Clayton High School's Ask Annie advice columnist. However, no one in school knows that. Not even Jen's best friend, Trina. But when nineteen-year-old screen heartthrob, Luke Striker, comes to Clayton High School posing as a transfer student named Lucas Smith, to research a new role, and Jen is forced to be his guide, she realizes that maybe she's not as good at figuring people out as she thought she was, as there's something about Luke that she can't quite put her finger on. I mean, who knew that a guy as famous as Luke Striker could actually have feelings, and care about people? But all bets are completely off when Luke asks Jen to Clayton High School's Spring Fling dance. And not as a friend, but as an actual...date.
Meg Cabot, being Meg Cabot, is able to create a mountain out of a molehill, and that's what she's accomplished with TEEN IDOL. Jen is a fun character, who so many girls will be able to relate to, as she is the All-American, girl-next-door who wants to help everyone, and cares more about everyone else in the world, and all of their problems, more than she cares about herself and her own problems. Luke Striker is a character who all female readers will fall in love with, as he is so not like what you'd expect from a teen celebrity. He's caring, intelligent, kind, not to mention very easy on the eyes. Cabot has created another book that will capture the hearts of readers the world over. Don't miss TEEN IDOL!!
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
|
|
|
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Message, August 29, 2004
Between the responsibilities show choir, homework, baby-sitting, and offering consolation to the angst-ridden teenagers of Clayton High School, Jen Greenley has a full plate. The last thing she needs is an undercover heartthrob to entertain as he researches his next film role. Because Jen, unlike her friend Trina, is not the type to get excited about a celebrity; not even Luke Striker, who wooed teenage girls nationwide in the hit TV show Heaven Help Us as well as in his portrayals of Tarzan and Lancelot.
Though she expects nothing but a hassle from the introduction of this personage, Jen finds in Luke Striker a good friend...and maybe more. But more importantly, she finds the one person who can show her who she really is, and all that she can truly accomplish.
In the tradition of all Meg Cabot's books, Teen Idol is funny and nicely paced, though I feel the story didn't really pick up until about the halfway point. I wouldn't consider it to be entirely predictable, although of course Jen ends up getting the guy. (You need to read it to find out WHICH guy!) Above all, I feel that the overall message leaves the reader feeling a bit more purposeful and empowered.
|
|
|
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important teen issues presented in a delightful read, September 7, 2004
Jen Greenley is the "It" girl in all the magazines. Reporters want to know what color she's wearing to the Clayton High School Spring Fling, and whether she's going to wear her hair up or down. Despite what you may think, though, Jen Greenley is not the title's "teen idol" --- she's just going to the Spring Fling with one.
It all started when reliable, thoughtful Jen, advice columnist for the school paper and "everybody's best friend," was asked by the school administration to guide a new student, Lucas Smith, through his first days at Clayton. Jen and the administration are the only ones who know that Lucas Smith is really Luke Striker, the hottest movie star in Hollywood. All the girls at Clayton think the new boy is cute, but when he accidentally reveals his true identity, Jen finds herself thrown headfirst into her fifteen minutes of fame, and a lot of turmoil with her friends and classmates.
Meg Cabot's trademark charming wit and ability to capture Jen's multitude of emotions make this book a delightful read for everyone. Jen's transformation from laid-back listener to instigator of social change, with inspiration from Luke Striker, will have you cheering for everyone touched by Jen's bravery. TEEN IDOL is a story with messages concerning self-image, confidence and friendships, but Cabot always keeps it lighthearted and funny. A perfect read for summer --- or fall, or winter, or spring.
--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
