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Crystal Velasquez, author of the PBS tie-in Maya and Miguel books, delivers the first in her “Your life, but...” series targeted to older readers.
Chapter One of Your Life, But Better... opens with the star of the book - namely, ‘You’ - being dragged to the mall by your friends. Suddenly you are in the position to be a model for the new line of Bebe La Rue’s young adult clothing line AND score tickets to the Bebe LaRue wrap party. Are you interested?
To find out if you’re brave enough to proceed, take the personality quiz. Depending on your responses, you are directed to a different chapter. At the end of that chapter, you get another personality quiz and head into the next chapter and so forth. Each reread, depending on your responses, can be a whole new adventure.
This ‘choose your own adventure’ type book perfectly targets tween-age girls who spend much of their awake (and possibly sleeping) time imagining “what if” situations starring themselves and their friends, enemies, would-be-boyfriends and favorite move celebrities.
The questions in the quiz are, for the most part, situations that girls can imagine themselves in: you’re the star of the school play; your little sister lied about the grade she got in a recent test; you’re in the middle of a school report and you forget half your speech; or the guy you like confesses he has a crush on your best friend.
In addition to being fun, the quizzes can lead you down a path to “the humiliation of your life” or the best day at the mall. The narrator sweetly encourages good behavior (“You are one smart cookie”) or questions ‘bad’ behavior (“Why such a hater?”) with an overall message about the importance of friendship and being genuine and true to yourself.
This is a lighthearted insight for tween girls that might just teach them a thing or two about themselves and making the right decision in difficult tween-ager situations. Highly recommended.
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Your Life, But Better...