Fab Five: Don't Make a Scene, Mum - Book #1

Rushton's new The Fab 5 series starts off as a veritable Bridget Jones's Diary for teens, with all its witty Briticisms intact. Readers will be snagged from the beginning, when a phone-in on the Moan Line of ""Hot FM"" invites listeners to dial in with ""just what's bugging you this week."" The five teens here have much to be bugged about. Chelsea is mortified that her mum--host of the Moan Line, Ginny Gee--wears fuchsia and orange miniskirt ensembles. Laura would like to disappear when her single mother is spotted ""snogging"" (making out) with her ""geek"" boyfriend in public. Jemma's mother stocks her wardrobe with clothes ""better suited to an unimaginative nine-year-old than a teenager."" Jon's father wants him to go on to Cambridge while Jon dreams of attending art college. Sumitha complains that her parents raise her as if they were still living in Calcutta. All five simply must go to under-18 night at the local disco, The Stomping Ground--against their parents' wishes. How they get there and the aftermath of their conjoining provide much fodder for entertainment and hilarity, with plenty of pokes at etiquette on the side. The parents are as colorful as their kids, and the generations unite in a common goal: ""just don't make a scene."" As the novel ends, the quintet heads out for summer holiday--providing just as meaty a premise for the next installment, I Think I'll Just Curl Up and Die, also releasing in June. Ages 10-up. (June)