10 Things to Do Before You're 16

This is a book about two girls, Anna and Beth. They're about to turn sixteen, and want to do something to fit in better. So they make a list, the title of which is 10 Thing to Do Before You're 16. The list consists of: 1. Get gorgeous hair 2. Anna get ears pierced/Beth get a tattoo 3. Get and wear a pair of super high stilettos (WITHOUT FALLING!) 4. Hook up with the two school hotties, Baz and Greg 5. Get a job and earn loads of dosh, or money 6. Get into a club 7. Get perfectly tanned and fuzz-free legs 8. Get cleavage 9. Have fantastic nails 10. Be dead cool and sophisticated Beth, throughout the whole book, admires Anna's brother, Joey, for being a perfect brother compared to her own. Plus, as you read this book, you can guess that she starts to like him. This is a perfect example for the many girls out there who are trying to be something they're not. There are lots of girl that are trying so hard to fit in and who change themselves, sometimes for the worse. Read this book...it is an excellent one! Reviewed by: spongebob183_1991 aka shandel

On Beth's fifteenth birthday - watching a concert on the Internet with her best friend Anna, who had turned fifteen a mere month earlier - the two friends came up with one very important mission: on their sixteenth birthdays - or, rather, Beth's sixteenth birthday - they would not be spending the night doing boring things. No, in the next year, the two pals would become ultra fabulous, and spend the night doing great things - like dancing at a club, wearing ultra high, high heels, and hanging with cute guys. Which is why, then and there, the two of them create a list of 10 things that they need to do before they turn sixteen. Flash forward nine months, and Beth and Anna haven't even attempted to create a better existence for themselves, or prepare themselves for the illustrious sweet sixteen. Sure, their hair is a bit longer, but that's the extent of their life-changing experience. So, with just three months left to go until they're the big 1-6, the two pals decide to get serious and buckle down to work, preparing themselves for the big night. Now, as they begin teaching themselves the rules of walking in high heels - how does Sarah Jessica Parker run in these things on "Sex and the City"? - and getting jobs of their own so they can buy fabulous accessories, the two girls realize that becoming fabulous is harder than it ever looked, and maybe, just maybe, the guys they were looking for were right under their noses all along. With the popularity of the illustrious Sweet 16 ever since MTV created the hit TV show MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEEN, it seems that everyone is trying to jump on the bandwagon, and create their own spin on all things Sweet Sixteen - or, rather, not-so-sweet Sixteen. However, with Caroline Plaisted's 10 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU'RE 16, she captures the essence and reality of what "real" girls think and experience before their big day. From hair do's - and don'ts - to episodes with bleach, self-tanning lotion, and face masks, Beth and Anna are on a roller coaster ride to mishap city - a place that every teenage girl has found herself in at some point or other. Leave your pump bra at home, and fill yourself up with the fluffiness of 10 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU'RE 16 - it's well worth it. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper