You Got Me Twisted

One of my most favorite songs from back in the day is Twisted by Keith Sweat. I loved him and Tevin Campbell and Maxwell and Brian McKnight when I was in seminary! Like I was still young and everything...21 or 22. They were so amazing and they were my musical life back then!

This has NOTHING to do with Theodora Twist, however. But I loved this book like I loved that music. And, as you can see, Twist is in the title and Twisted was the name of a Keith Sweat song, so my mind just went there, so it all is related somehow.

Theodora Twist is one of those "ripped from the headlines" books, and a very funny and entertaining one. It is a "light read" a great "summer read" as they say, even though it doesn't take place in summer, but it has that "light" aspect to it that makes a great "beach read" (don't you love how I am using all of the right, cheesy lingo).

Theodora Twist used to be Dora Twistler from Oak City, NJ and she was just a regular girl. Then she was "discovered" by a talent agent and became Theodora Twist: Celebrity Teen and moved to LA. She is also quite the wild-child, like so many celebrity teens become, and because of her wild ways, she is in danger of losing the ever-lucrative tween marketshare. Her agent decides that she needs to say yes to a network's offer to put her in a reality tv show that will show that she is just "a regular teen" and donate all of the profits from the show to teen charities.

The plan is that Theodora will move in with a regular family and do what regular teens do for a month, all while the cameras are rolling. The regular family is the family of one Emily Fine, a very sweet "nobody" in her high school. Emily and her family now live in the same house that Theodora lived in when she lived in Oak City. Theodora and Emily were both kinda friends for brief time before Theodora became a star.

We learn a lot about why Theodora is the wild girl that she is. We get a look at her unresolved grief from her father's death so many years ago. We also get a look at the ways in which Theodora Twist really is a regular teen.

We learn a lot about Emily, too. How hard dating and high school can be for even the not so famous teens. Both girls really help eachother.

The book is told in alternating chapters between Emily and Theodora and both girls are very likable and different but yet not so different. Some cynics might say that's predictable, but I think it is realistic. Some graphic material, here so probably best for ages 14 and up. Definitely worth the read.