My Own Worst Frenemy (Langdon Prep #1) in Multiculturalism in YA,Fantasy, Sci FI,Paranormal and fun books ;p

Dec 10, 2012 The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-ya-fiction, characters-black-heroines, characters-quirky-heroines, characters-geek-chicks, e-books-purchased, theme-interracial-relationships, sub-genre-multicultural-ya-fiction, poc-on-the-covers

First of all, let me rave about THE COVER!

Dear Out of Touch New York Publishing,

I know you guys are probably living in some Mad Men-esque type universe (and you probably voted for Romney), but this country and the entire world has grown increasingly multicultural. There is a huge demographic of young readers who tired of seeing white kids on the covers of books and as the heroes/heroines of stories. They want to see themselves and their diverse lives reflected in a positive way and if you're too First of all, let me rave about THE COVER!

Dear Out of Touch New York Publishing,

I know you guys are probably living in some Mad Men-esque type universe (and you probably voted for Romney), but this country and the entire world has grown increasingly multicultural. There is a huge demographic of young readers who tired of seeing white kids on the covers of books and as the heroes/heroines of stories. They want to see themselves and their diverse lives reflected in a positive way and if you're too stupid (or too racist) to feed that need, there are a lot of other publishers willing to do it and take their money.

This cover is eye-catching, right on and will grab that demographic you're going to need in order to stay competitive. Not to mention, it is a reminder that even prep schools are integrated. Look, there's even a full-figured teen (who I think is really cute) and an Asian girl and the world didn't self-destruct. Oh there's even an interracial romance element since young people don't have those same hangups you guys in New York seem to. It's time for you guys to join the rest of the 21st century.

I wouldn't sully this book by likening it to the Pretty Little Liars series. Whereas I can't see anything like PLL ever happening in real life (especially how lily-white it is), the issues Chanti and her friends deal with in school and out if it are relatable though the author isn't (thankfully) preachy. I would say this is more like a prep school version of Nancy Drew and while some of the conflicts are solely in the teen-drama catagory, it's also engaging and positive. Add to that an interracial romance aspect and it worked. Of course this is only the first book of a series so some of the characters weren't fully fleshed out. I loved the relationship between spunky heroine Chanti Evans and her mom Lana (who's an undercover vice cop). Normally I shy away from most black teen books because they're so formulaic and don't take into account the diversity amonsgst black teens. Granted Chanti comes from working-class origins and doesn't live the glamorous life, but she's still the kind of heroine that I enjoy reading about.

From day one the bookish and self-aware Chanti finds herself at Langdon, a snobby prep school and instantly on the wrong side of Headmistress Smythe and head mean girl Lissa. Along with Chanti, two other scholarship students--Bethanie (a girl with secrets of her own) and Marco (Chanti's crush), are being blamed for a rash of thefts around the school. Chanti uses all her skills, a gift from her cop mom (and lots of Law and Order) to find out who's setting them up only to find out that she and Marco are being set up for something even worse.

This was a quick but enjoyable read and I look forward to the next book in the series. Unless author Kimberly Reid (another reason for me to like this book. Is it just me or are my two favorite YA books written by authors who share either my first or last names just different spellings) commits some kind of fail, I will be keeping her on my insta-buy list. ...more

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