Project Paris

Title: Project Paris (The Fashion-Forward Adventures of Imogene)

Author: Lisa Barham

Pages: 217

Simon Pulse, 2007

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Recommended for: Girls, 12 and up

Grade: B+

   Imogene is back, and this time the stylish high school fashionista is headed to chérie Paris to cover Fashion Week for Hautelaw, the fashion forecasting agency that she interns for. Leaving all problems with her Italian boyfriend, Paolo, behind in Greenwich, she jets off to spend the summer in the famed fashion capital of the world, ready to dish it up with Karl and Miu Miu and catch a glimpse of all the latest European trends.

   Unfortunately, things this year in the City of Light are not going as planned: there's a major model strike, and fashion week is cancelled! Just when the hottest fashion event of the year looks like it's gone forever, Imogene and her spunky best friend, Evie (as well as their supermodel chum, Caprice) discover an abandoned designer's studio and set off on a wild goose chase to find the unnamed designer who might just save Fashion Week...

   I've gotta hand it to Lisa Barham: she's created a fun, flirty, and fashionable series that is appealing to teens, from the realistic and energetic protagonist to the fun storyline. Sujean Rim's color illustrations are adorable, the plot moves quickly, and readers will find themselves cracking up as they join Imogene on her crazy escapades, all with the glittering backdrop of France. To say it simply, Barham's second novel sparkles just as much the city it is set in-readers won't be disappointed.

   Click here to read a review of the first book, A Girl Like Moi.

   Click here to view an exclusive interview with Lisa Barham.