Vivid, cautionary coming-of-age tale.
This fiction debut from iconic early supermodel Porizkova is the story of a wide-eyed teenager who gets a good look at the underbelly of the fashion world when she spends a summer modeling in 1980s Paris.
A gangly teen living in Sweden, 15-year-old Jirina Radovanovicova is surprised when she is singled out by a fashion scout to work as a model in Paris. A child of Czech immigrants, with unusual dark looks, “frog eyes” and a gap-toothed smile, Jirina is teased by boys at school and barely tolerated by her unhappy single mom. With little more than some secondhand clothes and a paperback copy of Kafka’s The Castle given to her by her often-absent father, Jirina jets off to Paris, where she is assigned a room with Britta, another girl from Sweden. The room is in the apartment of their modeling-agency owner, Jeanne-Pierre, his disaffected former model wife, Marina, and their neglected toddler Olympe, with whom the teen bonds, figuring she could always become the child’s au pair if the modeling gig doesn’t work out. No chance of that. In spite of a few faux-pas, Jirina begins to get noticed for the knockout she is, and as her jobs increase, so do her adventures. A British hairdresser quickly dispatches with her virginity, and she nurses a raging crush on an Australian photographer while being pursued by a smitten young French journalist named Hugo. Her level head is turned by new experiences, good and bad, and there are predictable episodes involving drugs and treacherous fellow models. There is also, in her darkest hour, an opportunity to trade sexual favors for a plum job. Porizkova has enriched this story with details only an insider could provide. The alternately seductive and childlike Jirina possesses a refreshingly clear-eyed point of view and a solid moral compass.
Vivid, cautionary coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: April 10, 2007
ISBN: 1-4013-0326-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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