Hot Chick Lit

Since I'm on the Texas Lone Star committee, I've had the opportunity to read lots of great books--including some chick lit this summer. Here are 3 I enjoyed, and I hope you enjoy them, as well.

Lucky by Rachel Vail

14 year old Phoebe and her friends are most definitely lucky girls, and Phoebe has always seemed the luckiest of all of them. She's beautiful, rich, and popular--what more could a girl want? She and her friends are planning a huge bash to celebrate their 8th grade graduation (think MTv's "My Super-Sweet-16 kind of shindig) when the unthinkable happenss. Her mom loses her high-powered job and suddenly the cash stops flowing in. Now, while her friends excitedly plan the party, it seems unattainable to her, and life is turned upside down. Fans of Meg Cabot will love LUCKY.

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

Kate is a very practical girl who hasn't been lucky in love. After winning an essay contest she goes to Verona, Italy to experience Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for a summer session. She and her classmates learn just why the Bard's (as Shakespeare is known) work is still as relevant and real today as it was when it was written when life begins to imitate art. Those of you who love romance or theatre will enjoy this book. Those of you who love romance and theatre will adore it.

How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. I actually laughed right out loud (causing a few innocent bystanders to wonder about my sanity, I am sure) while reading it. Sugar Magnolia Dempsy (Maggie) and her wandering hippie parents have moved wherever the wind has taken them ever since Maggie can remember. Now that she's older, it gets more painful to leave friends and loved ones each time. Since her parents moved to Austin, Texas she's made a new plan. No longer will she try to fit in with the "populars", now she will purposefully make no friends--and therefore not be hurt when her family inevitably picks up and moves again. She dresses in weird and bizarre ways (even for Austin--Keep Austin Weird!) and joins the "nerdy" group when she has to join anything. Her plan completely backfires and the ensuing story is delicious.