Balancing Act

May 15, 2015
Superfashionista Chloe, having won the Teen Design Diva reality TV show in series opener Making the Cut (2014), begins her internship at the New York offices of one of her favorite designers. Excited at the prospect of spending three months at the Stefan Meyers design studio, Chloe focuses on her budding career, but she also hopes to spend some time with new almost-boyfriend, Jake. She settles in with her three new roommates in the dorm suite provided for them, getting along with Avery and Bailey but not Madison, who dismisses Chloe's success, saying she has not really earned her internship. Madison will, of course, remain relentlessly negative, providing Chloe with many distressing moments, but both Chloe and the book concentrate on the task at hand. Her first assignment-with the head of the knit department-goes well, though Chloe is apprehensive about future assignments. While the job remains constantly fascinating and demanding, she can't find enough time to spend with Jake and worries that she may lose her heartthrob (a squeaky-clean subplot). Meanwhile, she hopes her own designs might make a wave or two, even in this high-powered professional setting. Gurevich writes with prose as bubbly as Chloe's personality, keeping the focus on the positive even as Chloe grapples with her insecurities. The spotlight shines on the fashion designs, with Hagel's abundant sketches adding color and charm throughout. A delight for fashionistas everywhere. (Fiction. 9-13)

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