Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery

Gr 9 Up—When her friend buys her a winning lottery ticket, 16-year-old Lia strikes it rich, making her eight million pounds wealthier. The self-centered teen, who lives in a London suburb, initially succumbs to the expected pitfalls of instantaneous money, making frivolous purchases, lavishing gifts on friends, and becoming a media victim. Even as she gets caught up in her new life, she's also struggling to accept her best friend's growing devotion to Islam and the strains it puts on their relationship. Of course Lia has a love interest: the mysterious Raf, who shows up at school with black eyes and sleeps in an office in an Internet café. Lia's not sure what to make of the secrets surrounding him-she even spends much of the book wondering if he's possibly a vampire, angel, or some other kind of supernatural being. The novel's pace is adequate, but it really picks up halfway through as Lia begins to learn more about Raf and herself. Some plot twists are trite, and certain elements of the Lia/Rafael relationship feel a little too convenient. The writing is appropriate to the age range, though a brief, non-graphic sex scene may skew the book toward a slightly older audience. A solid choice for libraries looking to expand their chick-lit collections.—Lindsay Cesari, Baldwinsville School District, NY