THE BLACK SHEEP

Kendra Bishop, stunned she’s picked to be on The Black Sheep, a trading-places reality show, is helpless when brazen producer Judy Greenberg charges into her life with a camera crew in tow. Uprooted from her conservative New York City parents, Kendra is whisked to Monterey, Calif., to live with the Mulligan family. The aging hippie parents use a laissez-faire approach to child rearing, and Kendra’s “siblings” simply march to different drummers. Part of the odd family is Mitch, a 17-year-old who is easy on the eyes but initially ignores Kendra. Any potential romance, more in Kendra’s dreams than reality, is stalled by the camera crew constantly rolling tape and Judy waiting to pounce on any juicy gossip. Joining Mitch on a crusade to prevent a golf course from destroying the habitat of a group of otters, Kendra unintentionally becomes an activist. Although Judy’s cameras love the corporate confrontation, this segment seems tacked on to the plot. However, Kendra is an admirable character who discovers inner strength while thrust in a sink-or-swim environment. Fans of Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries series may migrate to this romantic comedy. (Fiction. YA)