PRINCESSES DON'T SWEAT

Author: Kaz Delaney ISBN: 084395325X 6/2004 YOUNG ADULT Publisher: Dorchester/Smooch

You’re an uptown New York über groover who finds herself dumped in Australia with your mom and her Internet fiancé. Do you . . . a. Start to sweat. Like, what gives this strange guy the right to kiss your mom in public? b. Hate the country on sight. Everything’s backwards. They do Christmas in the summer. And your life is in mortal danger! Every critter with more than two legs has a hit contract out on you. Aaack! c. Despair of your soon-to-be stepbrother. Practical jokes involving sugared cockroaches are so not funny. d. Meet the man of your dreams. Mitch is your own Aussie shake: one part Russell, two parts Hugh, one part Heath. That’s high calorie loooove. . . . And if he’d only hurry up and remember your name you could start planning your fantabulous future together. (Helloo?! Keep up here! Do we have to do everything in Outback time?) e. Find the happily ever after in this Never Never Land.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

In PRINCESSES DON’T SWEAT, Madeline is disgusted with her mom. She wants to spend the Christmas holidays in Australia with a man she met in an Internet chatroom. Madeline just wants to stay home and hang out with friends, maybe go to a day spa or shopping at Saks. After some bargaining with her mom, Madeline agrees to go along for the trip as long as they stay at a five-star hotel on the beach. Well, things don’t turn out exactly as Madeline dreams, because Barry, her mom’s boyfriend, has cancelled their hotel reservations and is taking them on holiday to the Australian Outback. When their truck breaks down miles from nowhere, Madeline and her “stepbrother” are forced to stay at a ranch while her mom and Barry go for supplies. Luckily, the person to rescue them is Mitch, a 17-year-old hottie.

I’ve never laughed so hard as when reading about Madeline’s antics in the Outback. She’s completely believable in her outlandish actions. I couldn’t wait to see what she did next. Underlying the laughs and fun, there’s a sweet story. Madeline is writing a journal for her father that she’s never met (She was a test-tube baby.), and missing the relationship a girl has with her dad. Barry’s son, Jason, is struggling to cope with the death of his mother in a car accident, one in which he was also involved. The two soon-to-be siblings find solace in one another and while on the surface dislike each other, actually develop close feelings.

Ms. Delaney has written a hilarious and witty story that is so much fun to read. I would love to see more of Madeline… maybe when she returns to Australia?

Kendra Patterson