30-Sec Lit Crit: The Hollywood Sisters: Backstage Pass by Mary Wilcox

[HEY BURGERFOLK! We're back from vacation, and totally thrilled to welcome to our newest teen reviewer, Jocelyn! Here's her take on the first novel in a new series from Mary Wilcox--oh, and if you like this one, #2 is out March 13....]


Backstage Pass is a very fun read about the kind of life the rest of us have only dreamed about (and I'm sure we've all wished for it at one time or another!): life in Hollywood. It sounds great, doesn't it? In Backstage Pass, Jessica Ortiz has had to leave behind her friends and move to Hollywood, because her older sister, Eva, is the newest Hollywood It-girl. Jessica's not like most people in LA, though. She's not trying to become a singer or an actress or anything. She wants to help Eva, though. These sisters get along a lot better than any I've known in real life! They're not totally unbelievably close all the time, though, so it's okay. Anyway, Jessica wants to help out her sister by catching whoever's trying to sabotage Eva. Which, of course, is not as easy as she thinks--whoever it is, they're trying to frame Jessica!

It's a really entertaining read, of course, especially because dreaming about celebrity life is always fun. Obviously--why do you think People and Us Weekly are so popular? Still, though, it could have been a lot better. Mostly because of the characters involved--they didn't seem exactly real to me, except for Jessica. It's a good book, still, but not as good as some other books I've read that are similar--and books about life in Hollywood are everywhere right now! I guess it's some tough competition, as there are some really fantastic ones out there. Backstage Pass is fun enough to make me anxious for the sequel (as you'll be if you read it!), but it's not fabulous. It's a fun way to pass a boring afternoon, though!