The Ashleys: There’s a New Name in School by Melissa de la Cruz

The Ashleys: There’s a New Name in School by Melissa de la Cruz
Reviewed by Suzanne Dlugolonski, Teen Services Librarian

The movie “Heathers” meets “My Super Sweet 16″ in a junior high version of beautiful, rich, powerful, and deliciously mean girls. In Melissa de la Cruz’s new series, appropriately named The Ashleys, Ashley Spencer, Ashley Li, and Ashley Alioto rule Miss Gamble’s Preparatory School for Girls. Set in San Francisco, the girls vie over clothing, boys, and whose sprawling mansion has the best view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

In There’s a New Name in School we meet the Ashleys on the first day of 7th grade where they soon discover that dowdy scholarship student Lauren Page has completely transformed over the summer. Lauren’s family is now extremely wealthy, and Lauren has undergone a stunning makeover. Along with her new bank account and her new looks, Lauren is determined to join the Ashleys… and then destroy them.

The Ashleys promises to be a lively new series. Although not terribly original and at times blatantly over the top, it offers all the flash and fun of the Gossip Girl and It Girl series without the, ahem, questionable extracurricular activities. For those readers (like me) who got totally sucked into the glamorously spoiled and can’t wait for the second installment, Jelous? due out April 2008, author de la Cruz offers a sneak peak in the back of book 1.

To learn more about author Melissa de la Cruz visit her website and MySpace page.  The Lewiston Public Library owns one copy; it can be reserved through NIOGA.