The Kayla Chronicles

April 1, 2008
Gr 7-9-This is a fun, sassy, lighthearted story of a Florida high school freshman who's trying to make a graceful transition into young adulthood. Kayla faces the usual difficulties: parents who don't understand her, a beautiful younger sister, and, of course, boy troubles. An aspiring journalist, she is persuaded by her friend Rosalie to try out for the Lady Lions dance team and expose its prejudice for large-breasted girls. This is an opportunity to stand up for women and show that looks don't make the person. Things don't turn out as expected, however, and Kayla finds herself making the team and enjoying the friendship of the other dancers. The novel is written in first person, diary style, with teen jargon and quotes from Zora Neale Hurston, Oprah Winfrey, Mary Wollstonecraft, and others interspersed throughout. A "Lexicon of Kayla-isms" is appended."Sheilah Kosco, Bastrop Public Library, TX"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2008
A refreshing departure from YA books tendency to emphasize underprivileged teens of color, this novel, set among well-heeled African Americans, rolls together gender politics and a friendship rift into a buoyant, thoughtful comedy. When Kayla is steamrolled by stridently feminist Rosalie into auditioning for their elite high schools hip-hop team, intending to expose discriminatory standards of beauty, something unforeseen occurs: Kayla actually makes the cut. To her surprise, the almost-15-year-old finds a sense of empowerment in dance, but Rosalie remains contemptuous of both the hoochie-mama dancers and of Kaylas decision to join them. The widening gap between the girls touchingly illustrates the shifts that can rock adolescent friendships, while memorable scenes, such as one in which a dancer matches Rosalie line for line in a Nikki Giovannirecitation smack down, will win exuberant supporters for Winstons inclusive message: Why settle for being just one type of girl? Kaylas family tensions are underdeveloped, and some readers will feel shortchanged by the lack of dance specifics. Still, few recent novels for younger YAs mesh levity and substance this successfully, and while some of Kaylas concerns are specifically African American (such as whether using hair-relaxing treatments constitute buying into oppression), her smart, gently self-mocking voice will transcend racial lines to hit home with a large number of young women.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2008
Fourteen-year-old Kayla agonizes over her decision about whether to accept a hard-won position on the Lady Lions dance team or to remain loyal to her aggressively judgmental friend, Rosalie. Kayla's movement toward self-confidence is punctuated by quotations from famous women and coinages of her own (e.g., bubblebot, dare-glare). Though the writing lacks subtlety, readers will sympathize with Kayla's conflict.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)