Dear Celeste, My Life Is a Mess

Readers are bound to savor this delectable treat about two friends who meet their idol--an advice columnist for teenagers. Celeste's ardent followers Amanda and Leigh are thrilled to learn that the nationally known journalist will be visiting their seventh grade class and moving to the neighborhood. But when the girls discover that Celeste Nussenbaum is a frumpy, disorganized, nervous wreck, they're stunned, disappointed and galvanized into action--they decide to help the unsuspecting woman get her life in order, with chaotic but always amusing results. Lantz's plot contains improbable situations, but the high jinks here are sufficiently animated to squelch any potential griping. Amanda's first-person narrative and the surrounding dialogue typify the language of today's youth. And, by story's end, the heroines are solving their own problems with intelligence and newly acquired maturity. Ages 8-12. (Jan.)