154. Lip Gloss Jungle by Melissa de la Cruz...

About the book:

Lauren Page's plan was simple: Get a fabulous makeover, become one of the Ashleys, and once she was securely in their trenches, completely destroy them from the inside. The only problem is, now that Lauren is seventh-grade royalty she isn't so sure she wants to follow through--especially because Sadie, her former best friend and current best frenemy, has formed a new plan to bring down the Ashleys in all of her own fabulous makeover glory.

Now Lauren's plan of action has changed: to save the Ashleys. But with Ashley dating a penniless blue-collar, Lili shunning makeup and fashion, and A.A. questioning Ashley's loyalty, can it be done? Or will the Ashleys actually go down?

drey's thoughts:
I think this is the book I've been waiting for in this series, and it's fitting that it's bringing up the rear. In this installment, the tie that binds the Ashleys together starts fraying. Betrayals past come back to haunt Ashley. A.A. has to decide if having her boyfriend means confronting her "BFF" over a very tall tale that hasn't been 'fessed up to. And Lili doesn't like that their former threesome is looking to become a permanent foursome. Especially since they're faced with rivals. Like, for the first time ever!

Ashley grows up a little, Lauren chooses sides, A.A. throws down the gauntlet, and Lili asserts herself. A good, fitting conclusion to the Ashley series. I'll be taking a break from tween drama for a bit now.

Title: Lip Gloss Jungle
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
ISBN-10: 141693409X
ISBN-13: 978-1416934097
Paperback: 239 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2008

Challenges: 100+, Support Your Local Library, Series

153. Birthday Vicious by Melissa de la Cruz...

About the book:

Ashley Spencer considers her birthday to be the most important event next to...well, ok, it's just the most important event, period. Hello.

So when the invite list is cast and the custom embossed invitations are sent, it's a who's-who list of San Francisco's best tweens. If people don't yet know whether they are in or out, this party is sure to draw the lines of coolness in the most permanent of inks. Ashley intends to prove that there's a reason she's been at the top of the social food chain her entire life, and she's not about to be unseated by some lame website ranking. She's also like to solve the problem of losing her boyfriend. Will all her birthday wishes come true? Or is it more like it's her party and she'll freak if she wants to?

drey's thoughts:
Okay... I thought these girls were just a tad too bratty in the last installment, Jealous? But nothing really prepares you for the over-the-top extravaganza that is Ashley Spencer's birthday party. Or for Ashley's all-me-all-the-time attitude. If she were mine, she'd be grounded till she's 25. Or maybe 45.

Then again, it's just a book. About a bunch of over-privileged girls who can't imagine not being the center of attention. And the lengths to which they'll go, so that it's not a possibility, ever.

The intricacies of tween friendships are touched upon--who do you trust? Who is "your" friend vs. someone else's? Who defines who's in and who's out? How long before one of the Ashleys decides that she's not going to get pushed around anymore?

I'm waiting for the girls to grow up a little. Yes, they're tweens. But that doesn't give them a license to be brats. Lip Gloss Jungle is up next!

Title: Birthday Vicious (Ashleys #3)
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
ISBN-10: 1416934081
ISBN-13: 978-1416934080
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2008

Challenges: 100+, Support Your Local Library, Series

145. Jealous? by Melissa de la Cruz...

About the book:

They have it all: Money, looks, popularity, anything their little platinum-encased hearts desire. They also have a new face. After Lauren Page's unexpected and brilliant maneuver at the fall VIP dance, she is in so tight with Ashley Spencer, the number one Ashley, that she might as well be Ashley's favorite pair of leggings.

But a new website, www.ashleyrank.com, catches on like the flu in February, and for the first time since kindergarten it's open season in the popularity race. Lauren Page sees a way in, Ashley Li and Ashley Alito see a way up, and Ashley Spencer sees a way to prove there's only room for one at the top.

drey's thoughts:
Well. Things are shaking up at Miss Gamble's. And all is good, as long as Ashley (Spencer) is (still) at the top of the new popularity ranks. That girl is all about her, and only her. She's navigated her way in with A.A.'s "boy". She still walks all over Lili. And she's gotten rid of that usurper, Lauren. But not for long...

When Lauren approaches the Ashleys about being on a reality show with her, as her friends, they jump at the opportunity. All of a sudden, they're trying to shine individually--because, duh, only one gets to go to the next round. The length to which these girls will go to, to one-up each other, makes me really really glad I didn't grow up with girls like them. With them for friends, who needs enemies?

Jealous? is full of pre-teen drama, and bad behavior. But, of course, I will have to finish up the series. Because it is entertaining. =) Birthday Vicious is on my library list, and should come home in the coming days. Lip Gloss Jungle is already waiting its turn...

Title: Jealous? (Ashleys #2)
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
ISBN-10: 1416934073
ISBN-13: 978-1416934073
Paperback: 239 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2008

Challenges: Support Your Local Library, 100+, Series

144. The Ashleys by Melissa de la Cruz...

Yes, I'm still on my Melissa de la Cruz kick... *grin*

About the book:

The Ashleys rule Miss Gamble's Preparatory School for Girls. They are gorgeous, rich, impeccably fashion forward, and yes, all named Ashley. Lauren Page has gone to the same school with them her whole life, and the Ashleys, if forced to remember, might recall only a faint memory of shoving mud in the poor girl's mouth in kindergarten.

But Lauren Page is no longer the mud-eating loser she once was. And though she has completely changed her exterior from bargain-basement cast-offs to off-the-runway couture(props, of course, to her new personal shopper) she is still the same person on the inside. And that person has had enough of the current reginme.

Look out, Ashleys. There's a new name in school.

drey's thoughts:
Hoo boy. I never remembered twelve being particularly stressful or nasty. Maybe it's 'cuz I wasn't at Miss Gamble's? I never liked spoiled brats, and it's no surprise that really rich kids who do whatever they want and get away with it are spoiled brats. Like the three Ashleys. And even Lauren, who used to be one of the "picked upons," who thinks that because she's now rich (well, her dad is at any rate), that she can get "in" with the Ashleys. But that's not so easy.

The Ashleys is a story about trying to fit in, and maybe, just possibly trying to one-up the leaders of the pack. Only, those things never seem to work the way you want them to, or plan for them to. And do you really want to, anyway? Fit in, I mean? Blaze your own course, Lauren! Break free, Lili! Stand tall, A.A.!!

Yeah, I never thought much about the "in" crowd, while in school. But it sure is entertaining to read about them. Even if my mom would've smacked me upside the head if I ever behaved like these girls do.

Title: The Ashleys
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
ISBN-10: 1416934065
ISBN-13: 978-1416934066
Paperback: 245 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2008

Challenges: Support Your Local Library, 100+, 1st in Series