Lily B. on the Brink of Cool

Rating:
Summary: It's hard to imagine a more endearing character than Lily.
Review: Future biographers of Lily Blennerhassett, rejoice! Lily B. is keeping a journal to assist you in your work (and also because she needs the credits for Advanced English). Yes, Lily expects to be a great novelist one day, winning all kinds of accolades and awards. In the meantime, her life is dull with a capital D --- especially this summer.

Her best friend Charlotte leaves to attend Young Executive Camp. Lily's parents drag her off on Family Outings to tour accordion manufacturers, learn how to spin yarn, make cornhusk dolls, and other adolescent tortures. Well, let's face it: Lily's parents are uninteresting. Her father drives the speed limit in the fast lane. Her mother cares so much that people won't find them untidy that she makes their beds while staying at motels.

Ho hum.

Excitement skyrockets into her boring existence when Lily meets the glamorous LeBlanc family. Karma and her parents, Charles and Veronique, are Cool People. They're beautiful, dress amazingly, and care about the important things in life, such as the environment and vegetarianism. Lily herself must be on the brink of cool to be hanging out with these hip folks. But why have Lily's parents forbidden her to spend time with the LeBlancs? When Lily stakes all for her fabulous friendship, her life becomes a nightmare.

The story, told in rapid-fire diary entries, grabs the reader. I sat down to read a few pages and, gripped by the mystery of Lily's new buddies, finished the book in one enjoyable sitting. It's hard to imagine a more endearing character than Lily, who grows and changes throughout the story in a most satisfying manner. Elizabeth Cody Kimmel expresses essential themes --- the importance of family and the meaninglessness of appearances --- skillfully and joyfully. This is the stuff of which rabid fans are made. Oh, how I am hoping for a sequel!

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (...)

Rating:
Summary: Not just another diary
Review: Lily B. as as a character is more naive than other successful diarists of this genre, such as fictional personalities Georgia Nicolson and Adrian Mole, but the redeeming quality of her debut is that it's not just another diary, but a diary with an actual story. We follow Lily as she spends a summer vacation believing herself to be close to the critical transformation that will result in coolness. We want Lily to be cool becuase she is, even as she is held back by her clueless parents and goody-goody best friend. When Lily gets in over her head, seasoned readers will see her disaster coming a mile away while younger readers may be disheartened to discover that Lily's decison-making skills need a lot of work. Over all, a thoroughly amusing read which is often funny and has great potential for a series.

Rating:
Summary: Lily B on the Brink of Cool By Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Review: Lily Blennerhassett has to write in a journal what she does every day for an assignment for her teacher the next year. Every year Lily and her best friend spend the summer together. They would go to sporting camps, and overnight camps together. But one year Lily's best friend, Charlotte decides to go to a Young Exectutive Camp. Lily doesn't want to go because she doesnt want to do more work over the summer. So Lily decides that she will be bored to death all summer. When her best friend left for the camp she knew that she would miss her, so she decided to go meet a knew frined for the summer. She didn't have any luck finding anyone, and her cousins wedding was the night Charlotte left. While Lily was at her cousin's wedding she saw some people she had never met before. Later she found out that they were related to her. Lily statred to hang out with them and got really close. But she didn't know that all they were going to do was betray her. Their names were Charles, Veronica, and Karma. Karma was Lily's age so they had alot in common. They would go shopping and out to dinner with each other. Untill one day when they asked if they could stay in Lily's lake house. Without asking her parents Lily allowed them to. They ended up trashing the place and sueing Lily's parents for no reason. Lily lost track of Charoltte and forgot all about her untill she came home from her camp. LIly cried and cried because she knew it was all her falut she lost her friend, but there was nothing to do.
Is Lily going to get her friend back or is she going to lose her best friend forever?
My recommendation is that anyone who likes to read about friendship should read this book. Also my recommendation is to girls because it's about a girl and i don't think that a boy would like to read this book.


Rating:
Summary: An awsome book. Great for Abby Hayes and Madison Finn fans!
Review: This is one of my favorite books! It is extreamly funny and is one of those books you can read over and over! I couldnt help cheering for Lily while I read this book. It should get a newberry medal!