A fast, fun read; easy to booktalk (I.e., "Do you ever exaggerate the truth online?"), by an author who is a cool person and a library lover. Melissa de la Cruz kindly visited my library (at the time West Covina) to promote her books to my teens. I was surprised at who showed up --- this writer is well-loved! ( )

Sounds like something i would like...i mean duh! it's about fashion!

YA chicklit about a new Filipino immigrant on scholarship at an upper-class all-girls private school in San Francisco.

The voice is perky and fun (the requisite opening scene of profound embarrassment is especially well-executed), however, I found the deeper tone quite sorrowful. Vicenza is lonely and embattled, and keenly feels the social demotion from the wealthy, high-status position she held in Manila to her current status as a poor and mostly-ignored immigrant in the U.S. Especially poignant are her emails to friends at home in Manila, wherein she details a fantasy life exactly the opposite of what she is experiencing.

However, the plot proceeds exactly as the genre mandates it should: Vicenza re-negotiates her relationship with her parents, acquires loyal friends, sorts out the good-and-decent true boyfriend from the popular-but-not-good-for-her decoy boyfriend, and earns herself some respect among her classmates. Oh, and her emails back to Manila begin to reflect her actual life, too.

So, in the end, the future comes up rosy within the covers of pink-clad books. Just like it's supposed to.