The Aristobrats by: Jennifer Solow

The Aristobrats by: Lauren Solow

Published: September 1, 2010 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Other books in this series: Stay Pretty Wallingford (coming out June 1, 2011)

Summary:

Parker Bell has been waiting her whole life for Eighth Grade – she’s finally at the very top of the populadder at Wallingford Academy and her Facebook Friend count has never been higher. A second generation Wally (what most people call an “Aristobrat”), Parker is determined to use her status to champion the underpopular. But when Parker and her three best friends are mysteriously assigned to produce the highly academic (and seriously bleh) webcast, she watches in horror as their spot on the populadder plummets.

The girls will do whatever it takes to save their reputations, even if it means masterminding a plan to get kicked off the project. But when their predicament gets even worse, they just might realize that true friendship means more than status.

Review: I was scared to get into The Aristobrats. I thought it would be a The Clique rip-off, but while it was different, it still had a Cliquey feel. Overall, though, I was very surprised with this.

This is they year for Parker and her friends to shine. Finally, in eight grade, Parker, Ikea, Kiki, and Plum are ready to make it their best year yet. But their plans are soon canceled when their principal,Ms. Hotchkiss, names them the producers of their school's broadcast. Almost immediately, their population drags down dramatically. All of the people who they used to call friends ditch them and start making fun of them. So much for the best year ever.

The Aristobrats was a great book. I have to say, I fell in love with all of the characters. I also loved how the main characters were very different. Parker, the girl with money problems struggling to stay in Wallingford, Ikea, the smart one, Kiki, the fashion-forward one,and Plum, the tom-boy. I loved how through their differences they were still best friends. Now, I'm going to say it, I think one of my favorite characters in this was Kenneth. He made me laugh so hard whenever he came into the book. I wish he was in it more though.

The only problem I really had with this was the slow beginning. It took me a couple of chapters to really get into this and I just really didn't think too much of the girls in the beginning. I thought that they were annoying and just like The Clique! But when you get deeper into this, you find out that they are actually N I C E. They aren't bitches and actually behave like girls my age. Which is a huge up in my book.

Overall: 4 stars

You can learn more about Jennifer Solow and The Aristobrats here.