Faking It

When Denny, Mandy and Fleur start junior high, each is burdened with an invented life she has told to her friends. In order to keep up with her onetime playmate Mandy, Denny pretends to like clothes, boys and make-up more than she really does. Mandy claims that her father is the lead singer of an up-and-coming rock band--and she's got the pictures to prove it. Meanwhile, Fleur maintains her reputation as the class genius by letting everyone think that she is a year younger than she is. But the truth has a way of coming out, in a resolution that seems only slightly too tidy. While Denny's conflicting feelings about growing up are convincingly portrayed, the problems plaguing Fleur and Mandy seem contrived. Nevertheless, readers should enjoy the lively writing, which aptly conveys the giddy and poignant tone of junior high school life. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)