Title: Uninvited
Series: South Hills Sidekicks #1
Authors: Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers
Publication date: February 11th 2012
Genre: Humorous YA Chick-Lit
Purchase Link:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uninvited
South Hills Sidekicks #1
Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers
Leah Spiegel and Megan Summers, February 2012
ISBN 978-1469995984
Trade Paperback
From the authors—
When Alley started her senior year at Upper East High in the South Hills area, it was supposed to be the usual drag of hanging out with people who spent more on one outfit than Alley did on her entire wardrobe. That was until Kirsten, a girl in their clique, suddenly goes missing and the only people who seem to care are her friends. All evidence leads to the new comer Shane, a cocky and self-pretentious person in Alley’s opinion, but the police seem uninterested so she and the rest of the girls start a little investigation of their own. But they are nowhere closer to finding Kirsten than when they started and now they had the police’s attention; just not in the way they expected. The girls have to start over and discover that maybe it wasn’t an outsider who took Kirsten, but someone within their own clique who has something to hide; a secret that just might have gotten Kirsten killed.
Looking for a fun way to spend a day or two or three? Look no further, Uninvited is the perfect fluffy entertainment and you won’t be sorry you decided to hang out with Alley and her pals.
One of the oddities (to me) that I’ve noticed in contemporary young adult fiction is the repetition of certain stereotypical behaviors, most notably that the popular girls must also be mean girls. I’m happy to say that Ms. Spiegel and Ms. Summers have avoided that trap and these four are actually pretty nice to their classmates. They might very well be one of the top cliques in school, they’re attractive and three of the four have more money than any teenager needs but they’re also amusing, intelligent and, in the case of Val, refreshingly uncoordinated. Val reminds me of a dear friend from the past who was strikingly attractive and yet likely to fall flat on her rear or her face at any moment.
As a fan of mysteries, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Alley and the others turn into modern-day Nancy Drews when their friend goes missing and their attempts at sleuthing had me smiling all the way. I was actually pretty sorry to come to the end because I was having such a good time but, happily, there are two more books in the trilogy so Alley, Val, Kayla and Libby can draw me back into their adventures. I’m off to find Confiscated and Compromised right now.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, July 2013.
About the Author
Although we moved down to North Carolina several years ago, we’re originally from the Pittsburgh area. (That’s why a lot of our characters either live in the Burgh or reference our hometown football team, The Pittsburgh Steelers.) And yes, we even have the Southern accents to show for it now. Although Megan’s is considerable thicker, Leah still can’t understand the locals.
We are known as ‘the sisters’ among our neighborhood; when actually we’re probably really known as ‘the sisters with the Yorkies’. Our pups, Skippy Jon Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow, were given long names to compensate for their small size but not their large personalities.
If Leah’s not glued to her electronic devices, AKA her Kindle Fire and various laptops, you can find her training ‘the attack dogs’, running on the treadmill while conceiving the next great book idea with the Dave Matthews Band, Muse, Florence and the Machine, The Lumineers, and Pink (just to name a few) blaring out of her earphones.
If Megan’s not glued to her electronic devices AKA her iPad and Nook Color, you can find her teaching fourth graders, swimming marathon style at the pool, or cuddling with ‘the attack dogs’ as she watches Duck Dynasty, Gold Rush, Scandal, Person of Interest, Morning Joe, etc.
Leah graduated from Edinboro University with a BA in Art Education. Megan received her teaching degree from Edinboro University and Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Technology from Grand Canyon University.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.leahspiegelandmegansummers.blogspot.ca/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4867023.Leah_Spiegel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leah-Spiegel-and-Megan-Summers/349519668482945
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Leah_Spiegel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow the tour here.
Buried Under Books 