Confessions of a Not It Girl

Besides being named after an obscure Renaissance painter (turning the name "Jan" into "Yahn,") and having a butt so big that it "belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records," high school senior Jan Miller also has the dubious honor of being best friends with Rebecca Larkin, recently named one of CHIC magazine’s New York "IT" Girls. Add a ridiculously huge crush on new-boy hottie Josh Gardner to this list of woes and sympathetic readers can see why "life would be so much simpler if guys were like mood rings, and they changed color when they liked you." It will take more than just Rebecca’s easy assurances and a few pints of Ben & Jerry’s for Jan to come to terms with her own inner "It" girl (or lack thereof).

Even though she incorporates some pretty clever turns of phrase ("I could not seize the mantle of power. I could not even seize the training bra of power.") high school teacher-turned-author Melissa Kantor doesn't do much else to distinguish her first novel from the hot-pink jacketed reads that seem to giggle loudly from bookstore shelves these days. Female teen readers who want more books like Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries or Jacqueline Wilson's Girls in Love series won't be disappointed in Confessions, but Kantor will need to move beyond the "plain girl who makes good" plot if she wants her witty writing noticed. A passable debut, but the Kantor has the potential to do better. --Jennifer Hubert