THE PRETTY ONE

Whoever said being pretty was easy? Chunky, buck-toothed Megan has always played second best to her sexy, slender sister Lucy both in life and in the theater world: Megan designs the sets, and Lucy steals the show onstage. That all changes, however, when Megan’s hit by a car and spends the next eight months recuperating. The following school year, she’s fully transformed from bombed-out to bombshell thanks to plastic surgery, weight loss, bone grafts and dental work. Soon she’s starring in the school play, and the boys that used to chase her sister now chase her. Cue scenes of unwanted attention and nasty sibling rivalry, which all cause Megan to wonder if she’s suddenly popular because of her mind or her new body. Her voice and emotions ring true but lack depth, and readers may find her too flaky and whiney to wade through nearly 300 pages. The sibling rivalry barely dips beneath the surface, and what’s left is an after-schoolish screaming match between the two sisters over boys, clothes and dates. Typically tepid chick-lit fare. (Fiction. YA)