Mary Elizabeth, a.k.a. Lola, is accustomed to playing the starring role in the fascinating production that is her life. Her pottery-making single mom and bratty twin sisters are merely bit players in Lola's dramatic existence. But all this changes when she is forced to move from her beloved Manhattan to the boring suburbs of New Jersey. According to Lola, "living in the suburbs is like being dead, only with cable TV and pizza delivery." The worst part is that someone has already snagged the coveted Drama Queen of Suburbia title--and that someone is Carla Santini. Carla, who is "sophisticated, beautiful, and radiates confidence the way a towering inferno radiates heat," isn't about to let anyone take away her hard-earned crown. Undaunted, Lola tries out for and wins the lead in the school play, a role much desired by Carla. In retaliation, Carla makes the entire student body give Lola the silent treatment (and in addition scores tickets to a sold-out concert of Lola's favorite rock band). Can Lola crash the concert, crush Carla, and still have enough energy to wow everyone in the school production of Pygmalion? It's all in a day's work for Lola, Teenage Drama Queen.
With Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Dyan Sheldon has written a classic good girl vs. bad girl story and a rib-tickling romp through the petty kingdom (or in this case, queen-dom) of small-town high school popularity politics. The wide-open ending will have young drama-queens-in-training eagerly searching the shelves for the next installment of Lola's adventures. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
From Publishers Weekly
When native New Yorker Mary Elizabeth Cep and her "astoundingly unimaginative" family move to New Jersey, Mary Elizabeth, who plans to be an actress some day, changes her name to Lola and zealously begins a campaign to enrich the "humdrum" lives of suburbanites. Unfortunately, Lola's new classmates are not quite ready to receive her guidance. They are too busy worshipping their reigning "drama queen," snooty Carla Santini, who is not about to share the spotlight on- or offstage with anyone, especially a loudmouthed city slicker named Lola. Thus begins the war between Carla and Lola to be No. 1. Carla is armed with sophistication, beauty, confidence and an entourage of admirers. Lola, on the other hand, has only a handful of weapons: an overactive imagination, the lead role in the school play and one loyal friend, Ella, "a free spirit waitingAno, beggingAto be released." Energetic, almost breathless first-person narrative relates Lola's bitter defeats and hard-earned triumphs in her rise to stardom at school. Pitting a deliciously despicable villainess against an irresistible heroine glittering with wit and charm, Sheldon (The Boy of My Dreams) pulls off a hilarious comedy of errors. Ages 12-up. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
Amazon.com Review
Mary Elizabeth, a.k.a. Lola, is accustomed to playing the starring role in the fascinating production that is her life. Her pottery-making single mom and bratty twin sisters are merely bit players in Lola's dramatic existence. But all this changes when she is forced to move from her beloved Manhattan to the boring suburbs of New Jersey. According to Lola, "living in the suburbs is like being dead, only with cable TV and pizza delivery." The worst part is that someone has already snagged the coveted Drama Queen of Suburbia title--and that someone is Carla Santini. Carla, who is "sophisticated, beautiful, and radiates confidence the way a towering inferno radiates heat," isn't about to let anyone take away her hard-earned crown. Undaunted, Lola tries out for and wins the lead in the school play, a role much desired by Carla. In retaliation, Carla makes the entire student body give Lola the silent treatment (and in addition scores tickets to a sold-out concert of Lola's favorite rock band). Can Lola crash the concert, crush Carla, and still have enough energy to wow everyone in the school production of Pygmalion? It's all in a day's work for Lola, Teenage Drama Queen.
With Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Dyan Sheldon has written a classic good girl vs. bad girl story and a rib-tickling romp through the petty kingdom (or in this case, queen-dom) of small-town high school popularity politics. The wide-open ending will have young drama-queens-in-training eagerly searching the shelves for the next installment of Lola's adventures. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
From Publishers Weekly
When native New Yorker Mary Elizabeth Cep and her "astoundingly unimaginative" family move to New Jersey, Mary Elizabeth, who plans to be an actress some day, changes her name to Lola and zealously begins a campaign to enrich the "humdrum" lives of suburbanites. Unfortunately, Lola's new classmates are not quite ready to receive her guidance. They are too busy worshipping their reigning "drama queen," snooty Carla Santini, who is not about to share the spotlight on- or offstage with anyone, especially a loudmouthed city slicker named Lola. Thus begins the war between Carla and Lola to be No. 1. Carla is armed with sophistication, beauty, confidence and an entourage of admirers. Lola, on the other hand, has only a handful of weapons: an overactive imagination, the lead role in the school play and one loyal friend, Ella, "a free spirit waitingAno, beggingAto be released." Energetic, almost breathless first-person narrative relates Lola's bitter defeats and hard-earned triumphs in her rise to stardom at school. Pitting a deliciously despicable villainess against an irresistible heroine glittering with wit and charm, Sheldon (The Boy of My Dreams) pulls off a hilarious comedy of errors. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.