Common Sense Media Review
By Terreece Clarke
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Freaky life-swap tale with fashion and flair.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 2 parent reviews
Based on 22 kid reviews
Kids say that this book is an engaging read, particularly for young teens, with its humorous and light-hearted take on the struggles of identity and celebrity life. While some critiques mention a slow start and a mingling of themes like romance, crushes, and mild profanity, the overall consensus is that it is a fun and relatable story that resonates with its audience.
- engaging read
- relatable themes
- mild profanity
- fun story
- age appropriate
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Emerson Watts is trying to get her best friend Christopher to realize she's actually a girl, keep her little sister from becoming a clone of the popular kids, and maybe, just maybe, survive high school. When her mom makes her supervise her little sister's trip to the mega music store, an accident changes her forever -- into someone totally different and someone her best friend and the world will definitely notice.
Is It Any Good?
This book is a fun ride, made more entertaining by the model-in-the-making herself. Meg Cabot, Princess Diaries author, brings teen readers yet another makeover story -- but here the fantasy twist is that a regular girl gets a model's life after an accident and some much more invasive procedures. Emerson Watts is witty, sensitive, and slightly offbeat -- and her humorous take on her new life keeps the usual fashion and high school cattiness and snobbery in check.
The downside of this teen fantasy is the stretch the author asks the readers to make -- the kind you would usually only make for mad-scientist horror movies. Adding a slight edge is an underlying mystery that feels just sinister enough to keep it from dissolving into a Scooby-Doo caper. A few intriguing loose ends set readers up for more in the series.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it would be like to live another person's life. What do you think would be easy? What would be hard? Also, what do you think of the medical procedures Emerson endures? Are they ethical?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Contemporary Fiction
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Point
- Publication date : May 13, 2008
- Number of pages : 352
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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