Strings Attached

Blundell, Judy.  Strings Attached. New York: Scholastic Press 2011.

ISBN: 9780545221269 | Hardcover | 320 p. | $17.99 USD

Annotation: Kit Corrigan dropped out of school and moved to New York City in hopes of becoming a Broadway star.  Kit accepts help from her estranged boyfriends father but soon finds that his help comes with a dangerous price.

Awards / Honors:

- Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books of the Year: 2011

- YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2012

Index Card Booktalk: 

- 1950's New York City

- stuggling Broadway star

- hot headed boyfriend enlists in Korean War

- boyfriend's father gives her new apartment, clothes

- ends up involved with gangsters, can't escape

- web of family secrets unravel

- murder

Watch the book trailer to find out more:

The Real Real

Kraus, Nicola and McLaughlin, Emma.  The Real Real.  New York: Harper Collins, 2009.

ISBN: 9780061720406 | Hardcover | 310 p. |  $16.99 USD

Annotation: Hampton High senior Jesse is cast in a reality show about the "real" lives of high school students.  Jesse's normal life gets turned upside down as the producers manufacture drama among her friends for the sake of entertaining television.

Awards / Honors: 

N/A

Wrap Back Booktalk:  Jesse O'Rourke gets a chance of a lifetime when she is picked to be one of the stars of a reality show about high school students.  TV crews follow her around trying to find glamor in her everyday life.  When Jesse's life seems to average for TV producers, they try to add some glamour and drama.  Jesse gets wrapped up in a whirlwind of dates, drama, filming and flirting.  Before she knows it, she can't figure out the difference between TV real and The Real Real.

Watch an interview with authors Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin about The Real Real and hear why they love writing for teens: