THE FROG PRINCESS OF PELHAM

From Conford (Get the Picture, Jenny Archer?, 1995, etc.), a lighthearted, somewhat hollow read. Poor little rich orphan Chandler turns into a frog when Danny Malone kisses her on a dollar bet. So what do they do? Go on talk shows, of course. Sly references to some real and imaginary bits of pop culture from Oprah to Fabio, and every possible variation of ``it's not easy being green'' will have readers giggling through Chandler's trials, especially if they don't question the story's logic too closely. Chandler finally sheds her froggy skin in front of the CIA, the National Institute of Science, and a few X-Fileslike characters. Cotton candy for middle-school brains. (Fiction. 9-12)