Gossip Girl

Von Ziegesar, Cecily. Gossip girl. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2002.

Annotation: Gossip girl tracks the lives of a group of wealthy high schoolers relationships with love, sex, and most of all drama.

Book Talk:

I heard she had a baby in France. She has STDs. She’s addicted to all kinds of drugs. I heard she’s even selling them. She’s only popular because she’s slept with everybody.

The gossip runs rampant at school when envied it girl, Serena van der Woodsen comes back from boarding school. Ready to hit the party scene Serena soon realizes things aren’t going to be the same now that her best friend turned frenemy, Blair, is dating the guy she lost the big V to, Nate. Love, sex, drugs, jealousy, and alcohol are as common with these high schoolers as the gossip that surrounds their relationships. Find out what these characters really think about each other in Gossip Girl. 

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If you liked this book, read the whole series!

Keeping You a Secret

Peters, Julie Ann. Keeping You a Secret. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2003.

Annotation: Holland Jaeger discovers her true identity after she meets and falls in love with an out and proud lesbian transfer student.

Book Talk:

Holland is balancing homework, work, college applications, friends, and a boyfriend as a senior in high school when she first spots Cece an openly gay transfer student. When she realizes that her thoughts about Cece sound more like a girl crush she begins to question her sexuality.

After admitting to herself she is a lesbian, Holland and Cece begin a relationship of liberating love, but how liberating can it be if no one can know about it? In an effort to avoid cruelty from others at school and keep her to herself Cece convinces Holland to keep their relationship secret. Find out if keeping your relationship a secret is really Keeping You a Secret.

Awards:

2004 Stonewall Honor Book

Best of 2003 Young-Adult Books, Borders Books and Music

2003 Lambda Literary Award Finalist

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