LBD: IT’S A GIRL THING

Stymied from attending the Astlebury Music Festival by their parents, three British girls in Year 9—they call themselves Les Bambinos Dangereuses—decide to have their own. Surprisingly, they garner permission from the headmaster to host Blackwell Live. At first, this is relentlessly hip and snide as Ronnie, short for Veronica Ripperton, introduces her parents, her friends, her crushes, and her music. Fleur is a gorgeous boy magnet, with snogging (twirly tongues and all) usually leading to heartbreak. Claude, short for Claudette, is an angelic-looking overachiever with a penchant for getting the other girls into trouble. About midpoint when the characters have been introduced and the plans for the festival are rolling, the subplot of Ronnie’s bickering parents gets more focus and the aggravating slang lightens up to make the second half more enjoyable. A Rennison imitation, or in LBD terms, not quite as big a “fat sack of flatulent poo-flavored mess” as it starts out to be. (Fiction. YA)