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Overview
Looking for love in Las Vegas...
Cass Parker is a big believer in luck, fate, and all things cosmic. So she's devastated when she walks in on her supposed best friend macking with Jesse, the guy she's in total "like" with. Talk about bad karma. Vegas is just full of cheaters, Cass concludes — even the locals.
Cass refuses to sulk. She finds new friends and even gets invited to their weekly poker night — totally casual and not-for-profit, of course. They seem pretty chill, and Cass definitely needs to get out more. So after consulting her horoscope, she gets in the game.
But when Jesse turns up for a final showdown, it turns out that Cass isn't so good at bluffing — not when it comes to matters of the heart....
Editorials
School Library Journal
Gr 6-9
Cass lives a glamorous Las Vegas life and seems to have everything going for her. Her best friend is the most popular girl in school, her boyfriend is a cute über-jock, and she gets along with her single dad. All of this changes when she catches her best friend and boyfriend kissing. Despite her anger and embarrassment, she makes a new circle of friends, learns to play poker, and spends time with the first boy to cross her path. Her new friends teach her to stand up for herself and they conspire to catch the ex-boyfriend cheating at cards. Characters aren't complex, but the book doesn't fall into the trap of Nice Girls vs. Mean Girls. Cass graciously accepts her apologetic friend back, and readers will respect her decision not to reunite with the boyfriend. Cass's narration sounds like a real teen without getting bogged down in trendy slang. Readers knowledgeable about poker will enjoy the detailed descriptions; others may skim them. Physical descriptions are also very detailed, complete with brand names. This light fluff is for young teens who would rather put on lip gloss than read.
—Amelia JenkinsCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.