Secrets of my Hollywood Life

Title: Secrets of my Hollywood Life

Author: Jen Calonita

Pages: 256

Poppy, 2006

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Chick Lit

Recommended to: Teen girls, 12 & Up

Rating: A

  Kaitlin Burke is a major TV actress. The public loves her. The press loves her. She's on every magazine cover, in every Hollywood gossip news station as "Most Loved Actress under 25". She's TV's 16-year-old sweetheart. She lives a life of movie premieres, gallery openings and photo shoots. 

  But secretly, Kaitlin longs for a normal life of a sixteen year old--cars, boys, school, and friends. So she disguises herself as a slightly nerdy-but-nice British girl, Rachel, so she can live a normal life and attend school for one semester. But little does Kaitlin know, with one special boy and a bunch of nosy classmates, it's going to be harder than she thinks to conceal the truth...

   Glittering, colorful, and a whole load of fun, Secrets was an absolute joy to read. Calonita's writing is simply sparkling, and readers will love getting into this young, lovable star's head. This book made me think: what would it be like to be a teenage star? And by the end, my answer was: hard. Calonita exposes what Hollywood is really like, but with a whole lot of color and excitement along the way. The plot was perfect: it rose to a climax/conflict, and then fell into the satisfying ending that leaves readers begging for more but without being bored. 

   While filled with pop culture references, Secrets appropriately displayed brand names and actors (it's a Hollywood story, after all!) but wasn't obnoxious as it is in say, The Clique.

   And I love the cover--so cute! Girls who are looking for a light, easy read about Hollywood, you've met your match!