cover image 24-Karat Kids

24-Karat Kids

Sebastian Stuart, Judy Goldstein, . . St. Martin's, $22.95 (292pp) ISBN 978-0-312-34327-9

When Dr. Shelley Green joins Madison Pediatrics, a medical practice catering to the rich, peculiar parents of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, this self-described "schlumpy girl from Jackson Heights" is unprepared for the self-centered eccentrics who parade through her office. First-time collaborators Goldstein and Stuart have created them all in this chick-out-of-water comedy: a six-year-old with strep devastated to miss her Bergdorf manicure, a show-biz mom who wants a nose job for her eight-month-old son, and ultrapampered busybody Amanda Walker, who takes Shelley under her gilded wing. In the name of developing the "persona" to fit in with the posh parents from her practice, Shelley dives into the world of designer stores, spends weekends in the Hamptons with Amanda and her upscale friends and considers a dalliance with rich, hunky Josh Potter—a man entirely unlike her schoolteacher fiancé, Arthur. Of course, Shelley eventually has to decide what really matters to her, but before she does there are plenty of delicious laughs and devious betrayals among the Dior-and-diapers set. (June)