Withering Tights

Rennison (the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson books) is back with a new series, this time featuring 14%C2%BD-year-old Tallulah Casey, a self-deprecating and boy-crazy aspiring actress, as well as%E2%80%94in typical Rennison fashion%E2%80%94a spunky comedian. (Oh, and she's Georgia's cousin, too.) Tallulah heads off to Dother Hall in Yorkshire, a school for the performing arts, to pursue a life on the stage, and it won't take readers long to note that her personality is perfect for the profession. With entertaining scenarios in spades (Tallulah's home-stay family lodges her in what she regularly refers to as "the squirrel room," for instance), a cast of winning new girlfriends, and cute boys everywhere they turn, Tallulah and company work through the trials of adolescence and the mysteries of first romance. British slang is abundant (lots of "snogging," of course, but also less familiar terms like "smalls"). If the nonstop jokes and silliness can become a bit much at times, Tallulah is an effervescent protagonist who will keep fans of YA Brit lit laughing until the very end. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (July)