CONFESSIONS OF A NOT IT GIRL

In this light read, high-school senior Jan spends much of her narrative obsessing about Josh, her new “crush,” and about the largeness of her butt (which looks relatively small in the cover photo) and clothes that will minimize it. Although funny at first, the numerous awkward scenes with Josh and other boys soon start to pall. Meanwhile, Jan, who attends a private school, deals with college applications to prestigious schools and admissions visits. In an unconvincing subplot, Jan’s best friend, Rebecca, who was named one of New York’s “It Girls” by a girls’ magazine, is planning to lose her virginity with a law student who thinks Rebecca’s a college senior. With its lack of character development or compelling plot, this will only find an audience among undemanding fans of “chick lit.” (Fiction. YA)