New Girl on Salt Flat Road: a Lola Zola book

Lola Zola #2

by Marcy Winograd, Jackie Hirtz

Eleven-year-old Lola Zola wants a bra, but her mother won’t buy her one, reminding her that she’s “not quite ready.” Ouch. But Lola isn’t giving up – she’s even praying for her pancakes to become cupcakes. Her prayers go unanswered and Lola and her BFF, Melanie, are coming to the realization that they’ll be the only girls at school without bras. Just when they’ve become used to being called “Flatty Patties,” a new girl with a great figure moves in next door to Lola in the sleepy desert town of Mirage. “Queen Pauline,” as Lola and Melanie call her, hails from Malibu and lives tween life in the fast lane. She shoplifts, steals friends, and likes boys, boys, boys – including Buck, Lola’s secret crush from the lemonade war days. Before Lola knows it, Lola is also racing to womanhood, crashing into the law and making spectacle of her fugitive self.

196 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2015

About the author

Growing up I loved poetry, reading Ferlinghetti's "I am Waiting" and writing to the music of Debussy. Later, I became an English teacher, chairing an English department at an LAUSD middle school and teaching Orwell, Camus, and Fitzgerald at a public high school. In between the lines, in between the years, I ran for Congress as a peace candidate, mobilizing a national grassroots campaign to challenge the war machine. Now I'm back in class, teaching government at a public high school in South Los Angeles, where my students write their own bills and form their own political parties. Lola Zola, the protagonist in my novel Lola Zola and the Lemonade Crush, is an activist girl who never gives up during hard times and summons all of her resources to rise to the challenge.

Reviews

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed New Girl on Salt Flat Road. It was a fast read and a book I am passing on to my tween granddaughter. I was glad that Winograd and Hirtz addressed the issues of self-image, honesty and alcoholism although the alcoholism seemed to be put in as an afterthought. Hopefully it will help young girls become more aware of situations that occur around them. I thought Ruby Rhubarb was a hoot.
New Girl on Salt Flat is my first Goodreads winner book. I was excited to receive it in the mail with the note from the authors. New Girl is well worth passing on.

[Allison Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the Lola Zola series. A cute, sassy tween book for girls. Lola Zola begs her mom for a bra, just wanting to be like all the other girls in middle school, but her mom keeps saying Lola doesn’t need a bra yet. She wants her daughter to stay a child, while Lola is really to grow up! Especially when a new girl moves in, a girl that Lola and her best friend Melanie dub “Tween Queen Pauline” due to her gorgeous hair and curvy body. Zola feels like the chosen one when Pauline invites her to the mall to try on bikinis (even though Lola doesn’t fill hers out) and to a makeup party (even though Lola isn’t allowed to wear makeup). Unfortunately, this makes Melanie, Lola’s best friend, feel left out. But when Lola discovers that Pauline shoplifts and likes boys—including Lola’s crush!—she isn’t as sure that she wants to be Ms. Popularity. See my detailed review at How I Feel About Books.

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lola Zola is a great heroine, one that I'm so glad my tween daughter gets to know through the two wonderfully written books featuring her dealing with real, modern problems that kids today are dealing with.

[Buddy Gottlieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this delightful tween adventure that is timeless in its themes about friendship and betrayal.