Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl Grades 9+ 288 pages Knopf March 2010 Hardcover     Veronica Walsh is fifteen, fat, fashion-obsessed and friendless. In her attempt to avoid social contact over summer holidays, Veronica accepts a job in a consignment shop, doing what she loves the most – sorting through clothing. However, as Veronica quickly finds out, the store has its own social world of weird and mischievous characters: Bill, the stoned manager; Zoe and Ginger, the girls who work downstairs on the floor and create as much mayhem as possible in Mookie’s (the donut store next door); and, finally, there is Len, the strange, lanky, odd-jobs guy with his strange limp and glassy look. After Len walks out of the store without paying for a pajama top (which Veronica had put aside for herself), Veronica teams up with unlikely friends Zoe and Ginger. The trio form the ‘Secret Spy Girl Pact’ that has Veronica spying on Len and reporting back to her new “friends.” Secret Spy Girl Veronica then finds herself playing double agent when she becomes friends with Len and his exotic pets. When Len entrusts Dep, his pet snake to Veronica, and Veronica in turn entrusts Dep to Zoe and Ginger; Veronica not only ends up with a dead snake but also finds herself in the middle of her two opposing alliances. To top things off, the new girl who is managing the store wants to promote Veronica to keep her in this social mishap that she has created for herself. How on earth is Veronica to manage these challenges? Vintage Veronica is a frilly, frolicking, refreshing coming-of-age story that is entertaining and will have anyone who has ever been a teenager nodding their head at the characters and the situations of teenage insecurity and peer pressure. Although Erica S. Perl has illustrated numerous books, this is her first novel, Perl’s range of characters is diverse and will have you smirking and smiling through Veronica’s struggles to make sense of and succeed in the world around her. This is a great book for teen girls and those who are still recovering from their awkward teen years. Recommended.     web reviews   Maya Fleischmann/2010 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)