WHEN YOU WISH

Star Beck, a 17-year-old pop sensation à la Britney Spears, can’t stand her insane, publicity-driven life or her stage-mother from Hell. She cuts and dyes her hair, then flees to find her long-lost father in Florida. But alas, Star knows next to nothing about life in the real world and hasn’t brought enough cash. Landing in a roach-infested motel, she tries to remain anonymous while coping with the new emotions of meeting both her father and a pleasant boy who actually seems to like her for who she really is. Harmel draws Star as a normal girl with an unusual life, allowing her readers to see themselves in her character. The book’s surprise depends upon abrupt character shifts, but it’s essentially entertainment that aspires to just a bit of depth. Better written than the usual fluff of this type, and fun for girls who wish they were stars. (Fiction. YA)