Dream Girl

CLAIRE VOYANTE HAS been having strange visions ever since she can remember. But the similarity between her name and her talents is purely coincidental. The name is French, and unlike the psychics on TV, she cant solve crimes or talk to the dead. Whenever Claire follows her hunches, she comes up empty—or ends up in pretty awkward situations.

But that all changes on Claires 15th birthday, when her grandmother, Kiki—former socialite, fashion icon, and permanent fixture at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel—gives her something a little more extraordinary than one of her old cocktail dresses: a strange black-and-white onyx cameo on a gold chain. Its not long before Claires world becomes a whole lot clearer. And a whole lot more dangerous.

"The coauthor of the 10th-Grade Social Climbers series, Mechling brings a lively awareness of girl-on-girl dynamics to this light mystery. There's also an extrasensory twist — the heroine, the haplessly named Claire Voyante, has visions, although she rarely knows what to make of them. On Claire's 15th birthday, her grandmother — a showgirl who married well — presents her with an old necklace, saying, 'When I wore [it], all my dreams started to come true.' Claire is so busy adjusting to her ultra-competitive new school, however, that neither the necklace nor the dreams she begins having make much impact on her. The story hinges on Claire's friendship with Becca Shutterworth, a fabulously rich new classmate; Becca's attractive older brother serves as Claire's heartthrob, and his devious girlfriend helps carry out a nefarious scheme targeting the Shutterworth family. While the mystery element is too obvious and readers may grow impatient for Claire's visions to affect the plot, the foundation is solid — the majority of Mechling's main characters seem both cheerfully idiosyncratic and recognizable, well-observed denizens of the Manhattan setting who deliver plenty of entertainment. Ages 12 — up. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Claire Voyante has always had visions, but the similarity between her name and her talents is purely coincidental. All that changes on Claire's 15th birthday, when her grandmother gives her a strange black-and-white onyx cameo on a gold chain. It's not long before Claire's world becomes a whole lot clearer--and more dangerous.

Lauren Mechling is the coauthor of all three 10th Grade Social Climber books. She lives and writes in New York City. You can visit her at www.laurenmechling.com.

From the Trade Paperback edition.