The Daughters Break the Rules

Gr 7—10—This installment in the series features Carina Jurgensen, a teenager dealing with a ridiculously wealthy and socially prominent parent. When her overbearing father forces her to intern in his media empire, Carina is devastated as it means giving up the JV soccer team and Model UN, so she retaliates in a very public way: she leaks a memo that implies that her dad's company misused charity funds. Her infuriated father hands down the punishment: Carina will have to live on an allowance of 20 dollars a week. Although she is an outdoors girl, happier on a mountain than on the streets of New York, living on a strict allowance is a major challenge. The adults in Carina's life sometimes seem unrealistically dreadful, though they do redeem themselves at the end. Brand dropping is prevalent, and at times feels like product placement. Although the book can stand alone, much of Carina's character development begins in The Daughters (Little, Brown, 2010). Even though these flaws exist, the book will engage younger teens who aren't quite ready for Cecily von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girls" series (Little, Brown).—Lindsay Cesari, Baldwinsville School District, NY