Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe

Gr 8 Up—Chloe Camden is an outgoing junior with a penchant for vintage shoes. Her humor shines from the very first scene, where readers are introduced to her as she dances around in a burrito costume to advertise a Mexican restaurant in her southern California home. She loves the attention that the silly outfit gets her. Chloe has lost her two best friends of many years (they think that she's too self-centered), her new guidance counselor tells her to design a better independent student project (JIAP) or else, and her mother and grandmother are engaged in World War III. Okay, she deals with being friendless, but she is opposed to working for the school radio station, which is on the verge of going off air, for her JISP. However, eventually she finds a new group of friends at the station, including dragonlike Clem and a possible romantic interest, Duncan, and she is encouraged to use her outgoing personality for an on-air talk show, Chloe, Queen of the Universe. This is fun, lighthearted chick-lit that touches on drug abuse and tough family issues. Coriell uses Chloe's sunny outlook to show how the teen perseveres through difficulties. ("I couldn't imagine a life without laughter and friends and fun.") Romance, personal growth, and friendships are central to the story line. A quick, enjoyable read.—Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA