Kiss and Make Up

Gr 7–10—The phrase "Two great minds think alike" takes on a whole new meaning with pretty and popular cosmetics queen, 16-year-old Emerson Taylor. Emerson has a gift—or a curse. She can read a person's mind with the lightest of kisses. When her financially strapped aunt announces that Emerson will not be attending private school the following year if her grades don't improve, Emerson initializes Operation Liplock. She will begin study sessions with the geeky Ivys—those destined to attend Ivy League colleges—where she will kiss them, allowing their knowledge to transfer to her mind. Acing a test has never been easier. Or so she thinks. Then she kisses Band Man, Edwin. Feeling like a "pseudo-slut," Emerson begins to question her plan, but when she is chosen to be a member of the academic decathlon team, her aunt's pride in her accomplishment seals the need to continue with her plan. As her relationship with Edwin deepens, Emerson realizes that she "is the one who needs a makeover." Anderson's debut novel (Amazon Children's Pub., 2012) is a sweet twist on high school rifts and reconciliations, grades and groundings, and the first kiss with your soul mate. Suzy Jackson's narration is superb, especially when voicing Emerson's emotional highs and lows and Aunt Arch's sweet, Southern lilt. A great addition to chick-lit collections.—Cheryl Preisendorfer, Twinsburg City Schools, OH