The It Girl (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = The It Girl
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Unknown ghost writer for Cecily von Ziegesar
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = The It Girl
genre = Young adult novel
publisher = Little, Brown
release_date = 2005
media_type = Print (Paperback) & AudioBook (MP3 CD)
pages = 272 pp
isbn = ISBN 978-0316011853
preceded_by =
followed_by = Notorious

The It Girl is the first book in The It Girl series. It was written in 2005 by a ghostwriter with suggestions from Cecily von Ziegesar. [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/books/12058/index2.html] Aimed toward young adults, it is a spin-off from the bestselling "Gossip Girl" series.

Jenny Humphrey has been kicked out from Constance Billard in the eighth book. In this series, she starts Waverly academy, an elite boarding school in New York horse country filled of glamorous rich kids. She aims to be the most sophisticated and most popular girl, partying every night and winning every boy there.

Like the Gossip Girl series, there is a break between every chapter with a "narrative" from less prominent characters. In this series, the characters use email and instant messaging to gossip and spread rumors about the main characters, Jenny, Tinsley, Callie and Brett.

Primary Characters

; Jenny Humphrey : Jenny Humphrey, a character from the Gossip Girl series, here stars in a series of her own. After being kicked out of Constance Billard, Jenny enrolls at the posh Waverly Academy located in New York state. Jenny hopes to leave her old, unsophisticated, embarrassing past behind and become the It Girl of Waverly. She soon rises to become the rival of previous "It girl", Tinsley Carmichael, and falls for Easy Walsh, the boyfriend of one of her roommates, Callie Vernon. ; Callie Vernon : Callie, who was one of Tinsley Carmichael's and Brett Messerschmidt's best friends and is girlfriend to Easy Walsh, is a popular blonde girl who rooms with Jenny and Brett at Waverly. When Easy is caught in her room, where she'd invited him so they could have sex, Callie blames the whole thing on Jenny, then convinces Jenny and Easy to flirt with each other to make her story more believable. Described as a manipulator by many. She is also picked to make up a cheer for Jenny. This has been a long tradition at Waverly. Teach the new varsity girl on your team a cheer, then watch her get embarrassed as she starts the cheer but no one follows. But Jenny breaks the tradition and actually finishes the cheer, resulting in all the girls following. She becomes(for a moment) the most popular girl in the stadium. ; Brett Messerschmidt : Hails from Rumson, New Jersey but tells everyone that she's from East Hampton and is afraid for everyone to know the real truth about her. Everyone is led to believe that she lives in East Hampton and that her parents are constantly throwing charity functions, while in truth her father is the most prominent plastic surgeon in the tri-state area (best known for bragging about how much fat he could get off a patient during a lipo) and her mother who is obsessed with zebra prints on everything, and consumes only truffles and Zoloft. No ones knows this except for Tinsley who once answered Brett's phone and had a lengthy conversation with Brett's mother about zebra prints. Thus Brett is somewhat relieved that Tinsley is not there to expose her secret. ; Easy Walsh : Despite the fact that he is a legacy at Waverly, there is nothing Easy wants more than to get out of school. The only thing keeping him at Waverly is his parents' promise of letting him go to Paris when he graduates. Originally the boyfriend of Callie Vernon, whom he stole from fellow Waverly Owl, Brandon Buchanan, Easy develops feelings for Jenny Humphrey and eventually leaves Callie for her.; Brandon Buchanan : Brandon was a loyal and dedicated boyfriend to Callie Vernon, but she cheated on him with, and eventually left him for Easy Walsh. Brandon never got over Callie and is still willing to do anything for her. He had a thing for Jenny Humphrey, but she, too, was interested in Easy, so Brandon decided to stick with being her friend and only having eyes for Callie, who has yet to show any real interest in getting back together.; Heath Ferro : Nicknamed Pony because everyone's taken a ride, Heath Ferro is the biggest man-slut at Waverly. He drunkenly made out with Jenny on her first day at Waverly, then fell asleep in her lap. He doesn't hesitate to gossip about her when she isn't around. He's also a favorite of Tinsley Carmichael because of their similar natures. He can be associated with Chuck of the Gossip Girl series because of their willingness to have sex with anyone.

Secondary Characters

; Eric Dalton : One of the famous "Daltons", Eric flirts with Brett Messerschmidt and then carries on an affair with her.; Dean Marymount : Dean Marymount is the Dean of Waverly who is a stickler for rules. ; Alison Quentin : One of Waverly's elite, though minor. A pretty Asian girl; she is Korean with fair black hair and is dating Alan St. Girard.; Benny Cunningham : A horsey looking girl, Benny is a friend of Tinsley, Callie, and Brett. Stands to make millions on her inheritance. Despite her reputation as being a sort-of prude, it is discovered that she lost her virginity to a senior her parents set her up with and thinks of herself as a born-again virgin. She's into Lon Baruzza.; Yvonne Stidder : A saxophone player, and member of the Jazz Band, Yvonne is the first girl Jenny meets at Waverly. At the lock down party in Dumbarton, she wears Tinsley's dress. In the game of I Never, she says that she's never had sex before, which starts most of the drama.; Kara Whalen: A quiet, sweet girl who comes out in the third book of the series, Reckless. She was teased by Heath Ferro for being fat last year and had been so depressed she had to stop school for a while. Now she's come back as a more slender, curvy girl who has gorgeous eyes and is taken in by Waverly's elite. Heath Ferro hit on her before realizing who she was and even after she flings a cup of warm beer in his face, he's still into her.; Julian McCaffery :Julian McCaffery is the popular freshman that hangs out with all the older boys. Tinsley takes a liking to him and he likes her...for a while. Then he meets Jenny and begins to like her personality more. He gets with Jenny and Tinsley is furious. She makes him tell Jenny about them and their relationship goes on edge.

External links

* [http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/It-Girl.html CSM Review of "The It Girl"]
* [http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/0316011851.asp TeenReads Review of "The It Girl"]
* [http://www.thebookhaven.net/Z_It_Girl.html BookHaven Review of "The It Girl"]