The Daughters

Gr 7—10—Joanna Philbin, Regis Philbin's daughter, knows all about growing up in the spotlight. She tackles that lifestyle in her debut novel (Little, Brown/Poppy, 2010) about three 14-year-old BFFs—Lizzie, Carina, and Hudson—whose parents are all incredibly famous. This first volume in a projected series is narrated by Lizzie, the only child of international supermodel Katia Summers. With her fuzzy hair and large nose, Lizzie doesn't resemble her mother and resents being asked to pose with her. Bombarded by the media, Lizzie makes one discordant comment about her mom and suddenly she's all over YouTube. As a result of her outburst, Lizzie is discovered as an "ugly model" with a real-life look, and she's plunged into her mother's world of fame. The real draw to this story is the friendship between the three girls. New York City is the perfect backdrop for these young teens to explore their own lives. These scenes portraying teen drinking and unchaperoned parties are not addressed, giving the impression that this is acceptable behavior. Narrated by Michal Friedman, some voices sound like cartoon characters, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between them. Girls will be drawn to the three friends and look forward to the next volume.—Richelle Roth, Boone County Public Library, Florence, KY