(Review) The Allegra Biscotti Collection

TITLE: The Allegra Biscotti Collection book 1
AUTHOR: Olivia Bennett
PAGES: 256
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
PUB DATE: November 2010

SOURCE: I obtained an ARC of the book when I went on a tour of Sourcebooks. Thanks to Paul for putting this book in my hands.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Emma Rose is SO not a diva.

She doesn’t want her turn on the catwalk—she’d rather be behind the scenes creating fabulous outfits! So when a famous fashionista discovers Emma’s designs and offers her the opportunity of a lifetime—a feature in Madison magazine (squeal!)—Emma sort of, well, panics. She has only one option: to create a secret identity.

And so Allegra Biscotti is born.

Allegra is worldly, sophisticated, and bold—everything Emma is not. But the pressure is on. And Emma quickly discovers juggling school, a new crush, friends, and a secret identity might not be as glamorous as she thought.

MY THOUGHTS:
This is the first book in a new series by Olivia Bennett. I am not sure how many books are planned for the series but I did find out that book two Allegra Biscotti: Who What Wear comes out in June 2011.

When I first got this book in August I wanted to read it right away because it sounded good but I managed to put it away so that I could read it closer to the release date.

I just have to say that my ARC cover is the same as the finished copy. I love the cover and it goes so very well with the book. Looking at it you see that its just like a sketch pad. Specking of sketching through out the book there is sketches and doodles on all the pages which I loved.

Well I picked up this book this morning and read it all today. I had a hard time to put it down.

I also loved that along with the chapters being numbered they were also titled so it gave you some what of an idea what the chapter would be about.

Okay about the book, Emma Rose is a grade eight student at a private school that her mother teaches at. Emma is like your typical girl who loves clothes and being unique and creative in what she wears but the thing that sets her apart is that one day she is hoping to make it big and become a designer. We learn right away that she has a game she plays every morning when she is on the subway to school and that is to design an outfit from the time she gets on the subway until her stop for school. She must take one item from people to make it an wow outfit. So Emma is always sketching.

At her father’s company Laceland she has a little studio set up where she puts her drawings into real pieces of clothing. One day Paige Young, who is a senior fashion editor of her favorite magazine, Madison, is in her father’s company looking at laces for her wedding dress. On her way out she spots Emma’s creations. She loves them and is curious to know the designer. A panicked Emma makes up a name and hopes that will be the end of it but its not Paige is intrigued by the pieces and wants to work with the designer.

What will Emma do? Can she pull of the scheme before its too late? What will happen when she is found out?

When Emma is not creating and designing she is at school. Struggling with her grades, a crush on a popular boy (Jackson) and loosing her best friend Holly to the popular girls known as the Ivana Bees. Will Emma be able to keep it all or will the secret identity and the secrets blow up?