Girls' Life top 10. - Brief Article - book review

Girls' Life, August-Sept, 2002

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BLUE CRUSH

Anne Marie has always dreamed of riding the world's most radical waves and winning the Rip Masters surf competition in Hawaii. That is, until a hot football player infiltrates her dreams. Will Anne Marie stay on board?

SPY KIDS 2

Let the battle begin. This time around there are two sets of spy kids. And that means twice the adventure and twice the suspense! In Carmen (Alexa Vega) and her brother Juni's latest top-secret mission, they must fight off the evil forces of rival spy kids Gary and Gerti Giggles, leading them to a mysterious island full of surprises- like (uh-oh) their gadgets going kaput.

DRUMLINE

Take a street drummer from Harlem and stick him in a southern university marching band. Sound disastrous? Find out if Devon can (drum)stick to it. This is a can't-be-beat look at the behind-the-scenes competitive world of drumlines.

SWIMFAN

Stalker alert! It's full-out fatal attraction when the new girl (Erika Christensen) becomes obsessed with the cutest guy on the swim team (Jesse Bradford). Cutie-pie had better perfect his backstroke because this girl will go to any length--maybe even murder--to trap her guy.

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OLD-SCHOOL SLAYER

Buffy has been fighting all sorts of heinous evils as of late, and not all of them are supernatural, I mean, what about that job at the Doublemeat Palace? If you'd love to swap talk of Buffy's bill-paying woes for the days when slayage was simple, Spike was evil and the school library was the spot to find some wicked foes, you'll love Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Microsoft Xbox. Buffy doles out some extreme vampire dustings using her super Slayer strength as she tangles with villains from Spike and Drusilla to the Master. The game features the voices of fave characters from the show, including Giles, Angel, Willow and Xander, and also takes you into some of Buffy's favorite haunts, like the Bronze, the cemetery and Sunnydale High School.

Read

Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

by Joyce Carol Oates

Harper Tempest, $16.99

After Matt Donaghy jokes to his jock buds in the cafeteria about blowing up Rocky River High School, the feds pay him an unexpected visit. And the only person who has the guts to jump to Matt's defense is gawky loner girl Ursula Riggs. Matt and Ursula become an unlikely duo, learning a boatload along the way about trust and loyalty.

All-American Girl

by Meg Cabot

HarperCollins, $15.99

Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries, introduces Samantha Madison. Only Sam's no royalty. She's a red-haired, freckle-faced 14-year-old who's in love with her perfect sister's BF. That is, until she jumps in front of a bullet intended for the president of the United States and, um, saves his life! There's more--enter David, the prez's too-cute son.

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BOY-O-BOY

O-Town * 02

Two years ago, Ashley, Erik-Michael, Dan, Trevor and Jacob were five unknown wannabe pop stars. After scoring spots in O-Town, the group put together from reality show Making the Band, the boys are already back with a second album (Eden's Crush hasn't even pulled that off). "We are way more involved. Before, we were all packaged up," says Trevor. "We actually turned down songs we didn't want on the album." Trevor says to pay special attention to guitar-driven single "From the Damage" (written by Ashley) and the deep, powerful "I Showed Her."

BBMak * Into Your Head

The Brits are back with a follow-up album to Sooner or Later. The first single "Out of My Heart (Into Your Head)" is as catchy and sensitive as the popular "Back Here." These boys have only just begun to scratch the surface of their stardom.

A1 * a1

Not another boy band! Well, make room for a1 because they sound just as good as BBMak and are way hotter than the guys of 'NSync. Christian, Ben, Paul and Mark are already huge in the UK and are debuting an album in the United States--a compilation of hits from their first three albums. Check out "Everytime," a super sappy romantic ballad.