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Golden
 | Golden Jennifer Lynn Barnes Date: July 2006 — $7.95 — Book Rating: |
Barnes becomes the latest teen phenom to rock the publishing world with the release of her first novel, Golden, a tale of high school mystery and misery. Sophomore Felicity (Lissy) James, her younger sister Lexie, and her parents are forced to leave their lush California community in the wake of a tragedy, and move across country to her mother’s childhood home in Ok-la-ho-ma, the most backward state in the union-- according to the gospel of Lissy. Common sense and teen movies normally dictate that a transplanted California beach girl would trump any Midwestern state farm queen, but not at Emory High School. Lissy inexplicably finds herself relegated to the bottom echelon of the social scene (the Nons) by the popular crowd (the Goldens), and that’s the least of her worries. Descended from a long line of supernaturally gifted women, Lissy’s own special abilities shift into overdrive at the most inopportune moments with uber-humiliating results. Factor in a muumuu wearing, mono-syllabic, single-minded grandmother bent on teaching her granddaughters the nuances of the “Sight,” and life couldn’t get any freakier. Barnes merits kudos for creating a quirky group of core characters with plenty of teen appeal. Readers will want to know more about the indominatable James sisters, and even the chameleon-like Lilah pops a few surprises as this family saga unfolds. Unfortunately, too many elements recycled from popular girl-power television series doom the plot with all too familiar good-versus-evil confrontations and revelations. Earmarked for readers ages 12 and up, younger fans of the genre, who haven’t seen it all before, may relate to this new generation of heroines and relish the teen friendly high school backdrop. Those accustomed to fare that is more sophisticated, won’t be satisfied with this entry.
