Limos, Lattes & My Life on the Fringe

Gr 6—10—Tyler Bonning is surviving her high school years by doing her own thing and trying her best to not care what anyone else thinks. But once she's nominated for prom queen as a joke, courtesy of the rich popular kids known as the Ruling Class, she can't help but be hurt. She decides to run with it, creating a campaign with promises to make prom more affordable for all who attend. With help from super cute Patrick and strange but sweet Valleri, Tyler has an actual chance of not only getting a wallet-friendly prom, but also of opening up to those around her. It's all quite stressful, until she stumbles across a strange book that gives her a lot of good advice in a non-preachy way. Tyler is a far-from-perfect heroine who is almost off-puttingly fierce, making the glimpses of her soft side all the more sweet. However, the story's spiritual sections seem to be an afterthought. After Tyler realizes that the book she found on the bus writes itself in response to her private thoughts, she doesn't actually open it up much. On the other hand, the light sprinkling of spiritual elements broadens the audience to those who might not otherwise pick up "Christian Fiction." A pleasant, predictable read.—Emily Chornomaz, Camden County Library System, Camden, NJ