Brandy

Children's Literature - Bonnie Bruneau

Scene is "the ultimate celebrity resource." Get "the real deal on your favorite stars." This issue is about Brandy Rayana Norwood, aka Brandy. Find out all sorts of information about this young, famous, talented star. Is her famous relative Whitney Houston or Bo Diddley? Is her company name Brand-Nu or Baby Baby, Inc.? Is White Castle or McDonald's her favorite fast food place? All types of cool, fun facts about Brandy and lots of pictures are included on every page.

VOYA - Sarah Flowers

Each title from the Scene series, published monthly, is essentially a fan magazine-each focusing on an individual performer popular with young people. Full-color photos are on every page, including several full-page pictures, and one double-page center spread. Each contains a "low-down" page in the best fan mag tradition: here's where readers learn about their hero's favorite movie, favorite pizza topping, and worst date. The main text is a summary of the star's life and career. A fold-out page in the back contains "The Scene Connection," a kind of flowchart connecting all of today's hot stars with one another via their movies, TV shows, and so forth-a sort of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon for the younger set. I showed these four volumes to a number of people, including librarians and kids. Kid reaction, both male and female, was enthusiastic, especially among the fourth through ninth graders. Several younger ones camped out at the reference desk while they were on display there, devouring every page. One older teen turned up his nose when I showed them to him, but then said, "Oh, wait...Jennifer Love Hewitt...let me see that one." The librarians unanimously agreed that these titles would be wonderful as incentive awards or Summer Reading Club prizes, but not one would be willing to put them in the collection. As one said, "It's the kind of thing you buy for your teenage daughter, so she can cut out the pictures and put them in her room." Indeed, if these books lasted a week in a circulating collection without being stolen or destroyed, I would be amazed. Illus. Photos. Charts. Note: This review was written and published to address four titles-Brandy, Jennifer Love Hewitt, James Van Der Beek and Matt Damon. VOYA Codes: 3Q 5P M J (Readable without serious defects, Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).