Airhead (Airhead Series #1)

Cabot (the Princess Diaries series) dishes up all the story ingredients her fans have come to know and love—romance, humor, believable teen dialogue and even a fantastical twist. This last bit requires a major suspension of disbelief, but willing readers will love it. Emerson Watts, 16, likes living in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, but she can't tolerate most of the students at her private high school. She and her best friend (and secret crush), Christopher, escape their outcast status by immersing themselves in online video games. But Emerson's bland world shatters when she attends the opening of a new Stark Megastore and suffers a terrible accident. She wakes up in the hospital one month later in someone else's body—and not just anyone else's, but that of superhot teen model Nikki Howard. Cabot's portrayal of Emerson is brilliant. She's a too-cool-for-school independent chick, but she doesn't grow annoying, because the author makes it clear her sarcasm stems from not fitting in. Once she's Nikki Howard, however, she has to rethink her positions on the social order. Pure fun, this first series installment will leave readers clamoring for the next. Ages 12—up. (June)

Emerson (Em) Watts hates the superficial world of cheerleading, modeling and size zero bodies. When a media megastore opens where a local family grocer used to be, the town boycotts the opening. Despite the boycott, Em's sister, Frida, insists on going to the megastore's opening because teen celebrities Gabriel Luna and Nikki Howard are scheduled to appear there. At the opening, boycotters sneak in with paintball guns and aim their fire at the plasma TVs hanging throughout the store. As Frida approaches Nikki Howard for an autograph, a protester shoots his gun at a screen directly above her head, causing the large TV to come loose from the wires holding it in place. Seeing her sister in danger, Em lunges forward. She pushes her sister to safety just as the last wire breaks, sending the TV crashing down on top of Em. Weeks later, Em wakes up from the accident. She is still in the hospital and begins to realize that something is strangely different about her voice and her body. When visitors keep mistaking her for Nikki Howard, she finally discovers that she has had her brain transplanted into the body of the famous model, who coincidentally died of a brain aneurysm at the same moment as the TV fell. Problems arise as Em tries to cope with her own death and struggles to learn how to be her new identity, Nikki Howard, a girl who is all that Em dislikes. While the plot is unique and interesting, its far-fetched nature keeps the reader at a distance. Additionally, Em's voice is unbelievable, and her emotional development does not match the intensity of her experiences, which prevents the reader from connecting with Em. Reviewer: Melissa Joy Adams

Gr 7-9

Cabot delivers yet another fun and frothy piece of escapism in this far-fetched but rousing roller-coaster ride of a novel. The plot centers on a freak accident at the new Stark Megastore. Emma Watts has a huge plasma TV land on her just as Nikki Howard, supermodel and the Face of Stark, enters the store and suffers a brain aneurism. Stark, determined to keep their moneymaking "face" alive, embarks on a risky venture that they have been doing for years, unbeknownst to anyone else. Now Emma's brain is in Nikki's body and her life will never be the same. If Emma tells anyone, her family will be slapped with millions in medical bills. Cabot pulls readers in and makes them care about Emma, her family, her best friend, and her secret crush. No one in the cast is completely fleshed out but there is some character development. This book is sure to fly off the shelves and leave readers breathlessly awaiting the promised sequel.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI