Hollywood is Like High School with Money by Zoey Dean

Description: Twenty-four-year old Taylor Henning has just landed her dream job as an assistant at a major movie studio. But when her catty coworkers trick her into almost getting fired, she realizes that the old saying "Hollywood is like school with money" just may be true. The thing is, Taylor wasn't exactly a social butterfly in high school-how is she supposed to do any better the second time around?

That's when she meets her boss's popular sixteen-year-old daughter Quinn, and has an epiphany: maybe this teenager can teach her how to use her queen bee tactics to succeed in the Hollywood popularity contest. Quinn comes up with a plan to teach Taylor one lesson a week-everything from "Fake it 'til you make it" to "It's *never* your fault"--and soon Taylor finds herself winning the war against rival assistant Kylie. Until, that is, she's directed to steal Kylie's boyfriend, and something happens that's not in the game plan: Taylor falls for the guy. Now she must do the impossible-- harness her inner mean girl while staying true to herself.

My Thoughts: Taylor Henning's favorite movie all-time is Journal Girl. Every since she saw it, she's been writing to the director. Sometimes it's only a few lines on a postcard, sometimes its a letter, but she mails them. He just never responds. Because of his movie, she wants to make movies, and goes to film school and does well. When she lands a job as a 2nd assistant she is over the moon. She finally has her foot in the door and like a fairy tale she believes that everything she ever wanted is going to happen. Wrong.

The other assistants are ruthless. You need to wear the right clothes, know the latest hollywood gossip, etc etc. Taylor was basically a geek in high school, and nice to everyone, so she has no clue how to do this to climb the corporate ladder. But she enlists the help of her boss's sixteen year old daughter to help her in exchange for a favor. Now Taylor has got the mean girl going on, and destruction may lie on her path, but she's going places. But when Kylie, an assistant always competing with Taylor, turns the tables on her, Taylor needs to decide who she really is, and if this is what she wants for her life.

This was very hard to put down! The writing flowed seamlessly and the characters were full of personality, vitality, and attitude. Even though there is a lesson to be learned between the pages, HOLLYWOOD IS A LIKE LIKE HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY is a fun, fresh, and engaging read for teens and adults.