Despising the conceited antics of the popular group in high school, including Taylor Anderson, Chloe Elizabeth Hart is determined to be the only girl who can avoid falling for Taylor's charms.

The Middle English romance has elicited throughout the centuries a curious mixture of indifference,hostile apprehension, and contempt that perhaps no other literature--except its most likely offspring, modern best-sellers--has provoked.

Bringing together leading researchers, this is the first volume to comprehensively examine popularity among children and adolescents: what it is, how it is attained, and its impact on peer interaction and individual development. The book clarifies how popularity is distinct from being socially accepted or well liked and how it is different for girls and boys. Behaviors that characterize popular peers are explored, as are the developmental benefits and risks of popularity and its connections to peer influence processes. Innovative measurement approaches and research designs are clearly described.

The third of five volumes of new scholarship on American movie conventions. The 19 essays explore cinematic representations of such material items as food, weapons, clothing, tools, technology, and art and literature. Not illustrated. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $13.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

A teenage girl who wants to be popular gets to meet characters from Biblical legends, thanks to a genie, and discuss the issue with them.

“This inventive retelling of Pride and Prejudice charms.”—People “A fun, page-turning romp and a thought-provoking look at the class-obsessed strata of Pakistani society.”—NPR Alys Binat has sworn never to marry—until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider. A scandal and vicious rumor concerning the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat daughters, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls. Knowing that many of her students won’t make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and have children, Alys teaches them about Jane Austen and her other literary heroes and hopes to inspire the girls to dream of more. When an invitation arrives to the biggest wedding their small town has seen in years, Mrs. Binat, certain that their luck is about to change, excitedly sets to work preparing her daughters to fish for rich, eligible bachelors. On the first night of the festivities, Alys’s lovely older sister, Jena, catches the eye of Fahad “Bungles” Bingla, the wildly successful—and single—entrepreneur. But Bungles’s friend Valentine Darsee is clearly unimpressed by the Binat family. Alys accidentally overhears his unflattering assessment of her and quickly dismisses him and his snobbish ways. As the days of lavish wedding parties unfold, the Binats wait breathlessly to see if Jena will land a proposal—and Alys begins to realize that Darsee’s brusque manner may be hiding a very different man from the one she saw at first glance. Told with wry wit and colorful prose, Unmarriageable is a charming update on Jane Austen’s beloved novel and an exhilarating exploration of love, marriage, class, and sisterhood. Praise for Unmarriageable “Delightful . . . Unmarriageable introduces readers to a rich Muslim culture. . . . [Kamal] observes family dramas with a satiric eye and treats readers to sparkling descriptions of a days-long wedding ceremony, with its high-fashion pageantry and higher social stakes.”—Star Tribune “Thoroughly charming.”—New York Post “[A] funny, sometimes romantic, often thought-provoking glimpse into Pakistani culture, one which adroitly illustrates the double standards women face when navigating sex, love, and marriage. This is a must-read for devout Austenites.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Jane's Fame tells the fascinating story of Jane Austen's renown, from the years of rejection the author faced during her lifetime to the global recognition and adoration she now enjoys. Almost two hundred years after her death, Austen remains a hot topic, constantly open to revival and reinterpretation and known to millions of people through film and television adaptations as much as through her books. In Jane's Fame, Claire Harman gives us the complete biography—of both the author and her lasting cultural influence—making this essential reading for anyone interested in Austen's life, works, and remarkably potent fame.

High school junior Ariella Winters has raised the position of nerd to an art form. Raking in the straight A’s, she couldn’t be happier. Sure, her social skills are lacking a bit, but who needs that stuff anyway? When you’re smart and dedicated, life is pretty perfect. That is, until a school project brings her worst nightmare to life. As part of a revolutionary social experiment, Ariella is thrown into a new school and given a new look that’s totally not her. To ace this project, she needs to spend the next six months trying to fit in. But that’s not even the worst part. As part of the assignment, she has to befriend her worst enemies—the popular crew, with their designer fashions and insincere emotions. The ones who would never give Ariella a second glance, except to mock and ridicule her. Enter Ashton Walker, the boy every girl wants to date. He’s the soccer star, the heartthrob who doesn’t fall in love—the one who could ruin Ariella’s plans. He’s got every girl falling at his feet which is just one out of the infinite reasons Ariella doesn’t need to get wrapped up in his life. Then again, there’s something he’s hiding, something that’s drawing Ariella in. Now she’s left questioning everything she’s ever believed in for a boy that she never should’ve met in the first place.