Indie Girl
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD INDIE KONKIPUDDI HAS ALWAYS DREAMED OF BECOMING A FASHION REPORTER. She'd do anything to land an internship with glamorous Celebrity Style magazine -- even babysit publisher Aaralyn Taylor's two-year-old son. Indie's neurosurgeon dad can't understand why Indie would want to spend her weekends picking Play-Doh off of someone else's Persian carpets, and pretty soon she starts asking herself the same thing.
Then Indie finds out that (1) Celebrity Style is in trouble, and (2) Hollywood's hottest star is having her wedding dress made in a village in India. Indie's sure she's scored the juiciest gossip in town -- the kind of story that will put the magazine back on the map and finally land her the internship! But when things don't pan out exactly as planned, Indie wonders -- will Aaralyn ever see her as anything more than just the hired help?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her first YA novel, fashion correspondent and author Daswani (The Village Bride of Beverly Hills) offers a sometimes moving, often funny glimpse of Indian-American family life along with a look at the cutthroat world of fashion journalism. Her 15-year-old heroine, Indie, has lived and breathed fashion for years, and dreams of being a fashion journalist. Now she has a chance at an internship at Celebrity Style magazine if she can make an impression on its owner, the infamous Aaralyn Taylor. Indie does indeed win notice (after chasing Aaralyn's limo) but ends up with a different job: baby-sitting Aaralyn's tantrum-prone two-year-old. Despite the setback (and her parents' strong misgivings), Indie is determined to wow her boss with her fashion finesse and ability to get the scoop on what celebrities are wearing. Some of her efforts prove fruitful, but along the way she learns some hard lessons about racism and nepotism. The exaggerated show-down between sincere, youthful ambition and fashion-insider ruthlessness and self-absorption can make this novel read like The Devil Wears Agatha Ruiz De La Prada, derivative and far-fetched, but those who share the protagonist's passion for trend-setting fashion will willingly suspend their disbelief in hopes that Indie will eventually come out on top. What sets this novel apart is Daswani's nuanced take on her character's Indian-American subculture, the pressure she feels to be like her more conventional cousins, her desire for independence, American-style, and her pride in her heritage. Indie is a heroine worth meeting. Ages 12-up.
