We Are SO Crashing Your Bar Mitzvah!!

Thanks to Karyn for the recent ALA arcs! Hurrah.

Stacy Adelaide Friedman is back. Stacy and Lydia have been away at camp all summer. While they were there, they met cool girl Laila. Laila's from LA, she's had surgery and everything (nose job), and she knows all about current rocker fashion. She teaches Stacy and Lydia all she knows.

The girls are back in town and dying to hook up with next-best-friend Kelly before the big "First Night". You know, when all the kids break into the Pepsico grounds and hang out before the first day back to school. Stacy and Lydia get all glammed up for the occasion. They have their Sedu ceramic hair straighteners, whitened teeth, smoky eyes and rock chick attire.

Then the chicas roll in. Kelly is with them. Kelly is with them!. All of the Rye girls are dressed in flowy peasant tops and gauchos...not skin tight rock chick clothes. Stacy and Lydia try to pass it off as a joke, but they can't help feeling like the outsiders once more. Kym is holding court again, and while Kelly is in the inner circle, Lydia and Stacy are outside of it.

All of a sudden a limo a la "My Super Sweet Sixteen" appears on the scene. Out pop 2 boys dressed in white tuxedos. Once has a silver tray with a bunch of necklaces on it. Each necklace is a delicate gold chain with a capital letter "E" hanging from it. Apparently this is the invitation to Eben's bar mitzvah. Each of the chicas are presented with the golden "E". Then Kelly receives hers. A subtle shake of the head from Kym seals Stacy and Kelly's fate. No invites for them. They are officially "out".

What do you do when 8th grade changes everything? Moreover, do you have to become a mean girl to be part of the mean girl posse? How much of yourself do you have to sacrifice for fashion?

Once again, Fiona Rosenbloom has penned an angst ridden tween novel that, while seemingly shallow, is pitch perfect. Designer label names are dropped along with celebrities and "oh my God" slang. While Stacy is truly unlikable in the beginning, we watch her grow, and her genuine concern for her friend's well being is apparent and refreshing. Fans of You are SO uninvited to my Bat Mitzvah will eat up this new title, as will younger fans of chicklit.