The Debs by Susan McBride

A few weeks ago I received an ARC from Delacorte Books. Included with the ARC was a lipstick case from my favorite designer ever, Lilly Pulitzer! Now that might be a silly reason to move up the book on my TBR pile but it happened.

The Debs is the first in a new series chronicling the debutante season for four girls in Houston, Texas. The four girls are eagerly awaiting their invitations from The Glass Slipper Club- the elitist ‘club’ that chooses each year’s debs. The book alternated viewpoints between all four girls, three of whom are best friends and a fourth that is their archenemy. It’s typical high school drama multiplied by millions of dollars.

Laura Bell is a size 14 and feels the pressures of not being skinny enough. Yet she still attracts some of the hottest guys around. Mac is struggling with her mother’s death and her father’s recent marriage to a woman young enough to be her sister. While being a Deb isn’t her dream, it was her mother’s. Ginger is the tree-hugging liberal struggling to find herself. All three girls are best friends and can’t wait to go through the deb season together.

Then there is popular Jo-Lynn, whose sole goal is to ensure that Laura Bell does not debut.

The Debs introduced me to high society and debuts in the south, a custom I am not very familiar with. It was fun to be transported to this world where girls wait for invitations with bated breath, try on their grandmother’s debut dresses, and pray for the chance to debut like their mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmother’s did. It’s a fun story and I look forward to reading the remaining books. The story moved quickly and I think teens will get a kick out of it. It’s definitely different than life here in the northeast and I think teens in the south and outside the south will enjoy the story.

The second book “Love, Lies and Texas Dips” comes out in June 2009. I recommend this series for high school readers, due to some mature situations.