Gorgeous

by Rachel Vail

Overview

She's looking good . . . but Allison Avery can't believe it. Growing up with beautiful, blond sisters, Allison has always been the dark-haired, "interesting-looking" Avery. So when the devil shows up and offers to make her gorgeous, Allison jumps at the chance to finally get noticed. But there's one tiny catch, and it's not her soul: The devil wants her cell phone.

Though her deal with the devil seems like a good idea at the time, Allison soon realizes that being gorgeous isn't as easy as it looks. Are her new friends and boyfriend for real, or do they just like her pretty face? Allison can't trust anyone anymore, and her possessed phone and her family's financial crisis aren't making things any easier. Plus, when she finds out that she might be America's next teen model, all hell breaks loose. Allison may be losing control, but how far is she willing to go to stay gorgeous forever?

Following the critically acclaimed Lucky, Rachel Vail continues her poignant sisterhood trilogy with the rebellious middle Avery sister, Allison. Fiery, sarcastic, and just plain fun, gorgeous captures the heartbreak and hilarity in one girl's attempt to have it all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061861192
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/26/2009
Series:	Avery Sisters Trilogy Series , #2
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
File size:	449 KB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Rachel Vail is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed novels If We Kiss and Lucky, Gorgeous, and Brilliant (the Avery sisters trilogy) and more than a dozen other novels for young teens, including the Friendship Ring series. Rachel has also written many beloved picture books, including Piggy Bunny and Sometimes I'm Bombaloo, and two hit novels for elementary school kids, Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters; and Justin Case: Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom. Rachel lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7-9–This second book about the Avery sisters retells the events in Lucky (HarperTeen, 2008) from the perspective of middle sister Allison. She sees herself as the plainest of the three, stuck “between two pillars of perfection,” and wishes she, too, were gorgeous. The ninth grader also has to come to terms with the effect that the loss of her mother’s high-powered job has on the entire family. One night, she dreams that she has sold her cell phone to the devil in return for at least seven people who think she is gorgeous, and strangely, after the dream, things start to change in her life. She becomes friends with new girl Roxie Green, who talks her into cutting school and going to Manhattan for an open call for models for teen magazine zip. To her utter amazement, Allison is selected as a finalist in its cover-model contest, but she then has to deal with the fallout from keeping this a secret from her family and from Roxie and with her fading friendship with her best friend. As always, Vail is spot-on in her depictions of young teen girls and their complex relationships with friends and family, and her treatment of the clichéd “girl whom everyone thinks is plain becomes successful” is fresh, innovative, and realistic. Allison is an engaging, funny character, and girls will identify with her disappointment with her looks and her longing for respect and recognition.–Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

School Library Journal

With two popular and beautiful sisters, Allison Avery feels like she'll never measure up. She'd confide in her best friend, Jade, except that Jade is hypercritical of Allison's appearance. Jade is also interested in Ty, the boy Allison's been crushing on forever. When the devil appears in Allison's room one night, she trades her cell (not her soul) for the chance that seven people will think she's gorgeous. The deal seems to be legit; Ty now seems to notice Allison exists, and her cell phone has taken on a life of its own. As the end of Allison's ninth-grade year approaches, friendships in flux and her chance to win a modeling contest show her that there's more to being gorgeous than outward appearances. Allison is sarcastic and often moody, but she also cares deeply for her friends, traits readers will recognize. Vail shows a clear understanding of the everyday turmoil faced by today's teens and handles them with wit and obvious affection. If they haven't already read its predecessor, Lucky (2008), teens will want to after finishing this one. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

Vail shows a clear understanding of the everyday turmoil faced by today’s teens and handles them with wit and obvious affection. If they haven’t already read its predecessor, Lucky (2008), teens will want to after finishing this one. ” — Kirkus Reviews

“A solid, realistic account of a girl’s beginning to find her own identity.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for Lucky: “This is superior for its realism, its moderation, and its understated complexity of characters and relationships. Readers will drink up the drama and impatiently await the planned follow up titles.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

“Vail (You, Maybe) again demonstrates a penetrating insight into the concerns of young teen girls, this time upending the conventions of the rich–girl novel… Readers will absorb this in one fell swoop.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Kindness and understanding emerge in unexpected, fresh, and satisfying ways, and readers will be looking forward to finding out what lies ahead for the Avery family” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

A solid, realistic account of a girl’s beginning to find her own identity.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for Lucky: “This is superior for its realism, its moderation, and its understated complexity of characters and relationships. Readers will drink up the drama and impatiently await the planned follow up titles.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

A solid, realistic account of a girl’s beginning to find her own identity.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Praise for Lucky: “This is superior for its realism, its moderation, and its understated complexity of characters and relationships. Readers will drink up the drama and impatiently await the planned follow up titles.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)