DIRTY LAUNDRY
DANIEL EHRENHAFT
Contemporary YA
HarperTeen
ISBN# 9780061131035
240 Pages
$16.99
Hardcover--Available Now
Rating: 3 Enchantments
Carli Gemz (pronounced ‘Games’) is about to go undercover at Winchester boarding school to research her upcoming role. Only two people at the school know her true identity, the headmaster Stanton and FUN, the son of the man in charge of her next project. But Winchester is far from what the glossy pages of the brochure promise, instead Winchester is better known as DIRTY LAUNDRY, the place where the best boarding schools send their trouble students. Soon Carli finds herself investigating the disappearance of the popular Darcy Novak, a fellow student at Winchester who vanished the night before Carli’s arrival.
FUN, (real name Fellini Udall Newport) is back at Winchester because of his father promising he’d be Carli’s personal assistant. Just what he wants to do. Not. But at least he’s back with his best friend Nails, who seems to be hiding something. Did he have something to do with Darcy’s disappearance? Together with Carli, he’s going to find out.
I have to say DIRTY LAUNDRY was a bit of an odd read. Divided into three parts, which each part having a bit of an index that told you the scene order, it took me awhile to get into the story and relate to the characters. Honestly I didn’t felt like I really knew the two main characters, Carli and FUN until the third part began. Carli is truly one of the more unique YA characters I’ve read. What other teenage actress has a homeless guy as a PA back in Los Angeles? Along with her shame spirals, in which she makes herself go out and do something nice for someone else. The one funny part is when she emails her shrink Dr. Fien back in Los Angeles, and gets one back where Dr. Fien tries to make her angry and get out and do something different. Like have some FUN. I did like some of the secondary characters in Miranda, Carli’s new roommate and the intriguing Nails.
Daniel Ehrenhaft is the author of several wacky boarding school capers, including the Edgar Award winning Wessex Papers (under the pseudonym Daniel Parker) and Drawing A Blank. You can visit him online at www.danielehrenhaft.com
Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
February 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment