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Book Review of It's All About Us: A Novel

It's All About Us: A Novel
GeniusJen avatar reviewed on + 5322 more book reviews


Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

Meet Lissa Mansfield. She's about to start her junior year at Spencer Academy. The daughter of a well-known director (yes, he's worked with THAT Lucas) and a fundraising dynamo, the family is relocating to San Francisco for the next two years. Lissa has agreed to become a boarding student at Spencer during that time to be closer to her father's work location. Lissa is confident that the move from Santa Barbara to Spencer Academy will be easy enough. After all, she's outgoing and popular at her old high school.

Lissa is determined to befriend Vanessa Talbot, the It Girl of the Academy. If she can become friends with Vanessa, then it's a sure thing that Callum McCloud, the absolute hottest guy on campus, will take notice of her. But from the start, things don't go as smoothly as Lissa would hope. To add insult to injury, Lissa is getting a new roommate, Gillian Chang.

Lissa is a Christian with strong values. However, Lissa keeps her religion to herself. That becomes harder to do when Gillian shows up. Gillian is outspoken, very Christian in her beliefs, and a bit pushy. Lissa and Gillian form a tentative friendship, but as Lissa's desires to get into the popular crowd start to happen, Gillian is negative and derogatory of everything Lissa does.

Lissa is soon tested to her limits. She is forced to weigh her religious convictions against her desires to have a gorgeous boyfriend and popularity. When things go horribly wrong one night with Callum, Lissa agrees to let God guide her on the path she was meant to lead.

This new series by Shelley Adina is a breath of fresh air. It has all the excitement and drama that teens have come to love. It takes the drama and turmoil found in THE IT GIRL and PRIVATE series', but it gives teens a look at God's guiding love through the situations that face everyone as they grow up. Ms. Adina is a wonderful addition to this addicting genre of teen fiction.

Now, I'm off to find out Gillian's story in the second book of the series, THE FRUIT OF MY LIPSTICK.