[.ca] How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life (ISBN 1594832188)

ENGAGING AND FUNNY:
Get ready for the warmest, most engaging, hysterically funny listen of the summer. Some may want to label this plain vanilla chick-lit - mistake; it's far too clever, original and, yes, intelligent, for that. Author Kaavya Viswanathan, very much like her heroine, was born in India and had Harvard on her mind. She not only entered those hallowed halls but also snagged a $500,000 two-book contract at the age of 17. She writes like a seasoned pro and then some. How much of Kaavya is heroine Opal we may never know - it's enough to sit back, listen and enjoy. Opal Mehta is a single minded gal - she wants to go to Harvard. How can it be otherwise when her parents, Amal and Meena, have drummed this into her since birth. At the ripe old age of 16 she has an interview with the Dean of Admissions which doesn't go at all the way she had imagined. He tells her that she must become "well rounded." After all, he tells her, there's more to life than a 4.0 GPA. This is a student who quadruple proofread all her papers for school, is "interested in a wide array of academic subjects, " and tried to be "environmentally and politically aware." Opal's been too busy achieving scholastically to have any knowledge of the popular culture or make many friends outside of her cat. Dating, partying , boys are not on her radar screen. But, if that's what the Dean requires, Mom and Dad will pull together to turn their intellectually gifted offspring into a gal who loves fun and knows where to find it. From making flash cards with slang word on them to buying DVDs of the current teen movies to introducing Opal to Vogue and InStyle, the reinvention is on. The voice of Opal is beautifully created by Aarti Majmudar who studied at New York's Tisch School of Arts. Don't miss this - it's a gem! - Gail Cooke