A couple of months back my school library got a shipment of new books to be used as freebies, and my class was the first to get our fingers on the selection. Being the only one in the class that has a passion for reading has its ups, since I managed to grab the book without a struggle from "Class Beauty Queen/Princess/Fashionista" Katherine. C'mon! Even female bookworms have to reconnect with their inner Donatella Versace. However, "A Girl Like Moi" would be untouched, unopened, and unread until after school ended. Why? I dunno. Maybe it was time constraints.
Anywho, I finally finished it! To give you guys the feeling, here's the description on the back of the book.
Let's view a basic summary of the book, based on my readings. I'll only do a summary of Chapters 1-3, so you guys can get an idea:A girl. A dream job. A city full of possibilities...
Imogene is obsessed with fashion. Combine that with her talent for trouble (aka maxing out her "emergencies only" AmEx) and suddenly she's not going to chere Paris with her best friend for the summer. No, she must do the unthinkable for a stylish Greenwich girl such as herself-get a job.
Resourceful as always, Imogene works her connections and lands a dream internship at a fashion forecasting agency in New York. Now she's lunching at Serendipity, first on line at the Barney's warehouse sale, and skoshing seats at fashion week.
But when Imogene's dream is threatened by a cute Italian boy and one very evil intern, she questions what she really wants. And she learns that even in fashion, being true to yourself and following your dreams can go hand in hand.
Imogene is a young, spunky, and inquisitive teen girl, who is very concerned about her image. When her mother married a poor artist, Imogene's rich grandparents disowned her, leaving the family to make their own income.
That's not the problem for the other Greenwich County girls, however. Because they have loads of cash, they get whatever fashion moguls Gucci, Prada, Channel, and Louis Vuitton are selling. With the latest privilege of an American Express credit card, nothing stops her from maxing it out on all the latest clothes. This makes her Greenwich Academy's go-to for fashion advice, and the fashion-column writer of "Daily Obsession" in the school newspaper.
Soon after, hefty bills come in, and Imogene thinks of a clever way to pay it all off before her parents find out and her vacation to Paris: Redecorating McDonalds. She teams up with best friend, Evie, and they plan out the whole event. Opening night comes, and all the customers have one thing in mind. The girls are total GENIUSES! The idea, however, isn't met with great acclaim with the media. Thanks to TV Newscaster Missy Farthington, the whole world knows of "the destruciton of a great American icon." And "the whole world," includes her parents.
Imogene's mother gets a fax from the credit card company, right after watching the spectacle on TV. Furious, she forces Imogene to get a job at Greenwich Academy's Internship Program in order to pay the bill. Evie's father, whose dream is to have her take over the family restaurant franchise (New York's "Takeshi"), also makes her work, despite the fact that Evie is better at designing clothes than commandeering a world-class diner. Both parents eventually cut off the girls' plan to fly to Paris.
Distraught, Imogene takes on Nini Langhorne as her internship counselor. She soon discovers an opening at the fashion-forecasting magazine "HAUTELAW." Determined to get the position, she meets Nini at Soho Club to discuss the possibility.
While there, she encounters the Wolfe Pack. Head leader, Candy Wolfe, is absent, but her ruthless sub-leader Brooke isn't. Followed by cronies Fern and Romaine, Brooke annoys, intimidates, and harasses Imogene without mercy. It isn't until Caprice, a new model on the fashion runway, swoops down and saves her, that the Wolfe Pack leaves. They strike up a friendship that lasts throughout the book, while Brooke maintains a hatred for Imogene.
A friendship isn't the only thing that's developed. After accidentally stepping on her new Corto Moltedo shoes, Paolo and Imogene get along swimmingly. Both of them have a love for fashion, which makes them a perfect fit. In her heart, she wants to be with him forever. In her brain, it's a whole different story! Deeming Paolo a menace and distraction to her destiny at HAUTELAW, Imogene refuses to believe that she's in love.
And what else? Oh... Paolo and Imogene had a huge kissing scene during the club, only to be interrupted by Nini Langhorne (how humiliating), blah blah blah blah.... Oh wait... SHE LEFT HER CELLPHONE WITH HIM! O.OYeah. I could go hours and hours making a freakishly huge summary on the whole entire book, but I'll narrow it down to this. This book is about fashion, friendship, rumors, betrayal, redemption, and being who you truly are.
Lisa Barham definitely knows how to make a girl keep on reading! She constructs Imogene in a way that all chicks can relate to, no matter how rich or poor. I'm often told by my teachers (especially during those "Family Life" sessions), that being a teen is hard. So far, they're right. Teen-hood is a time of maturing mentally, growing spiritually, and insecurity. Imogene is portrayed as going through all three, and more. While us real-world girls probably won't go through the same fiasco and conundrum-like experiences, we can thank Ms. Barham for providing us a novel (novella?) that makes us feel like we're not alone in the world.
Thinking of reading the book? Thinking of NOT reading it? Already read it? Wanna read the next couple of books in the series? DON'T want to read the next couple of books in the series? Share your thoughts, opinions, and comments down below.
Hugs,
PSST! Here's a link to the book if you wanna purchase online.
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