Girls on Film: An A-List Novel    by Zoey Dean Order:  USA  Can Little, Brown & Co., 2004 (2004) Softcover     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson This is the second in The A-List series, starring beautiful, bright, privileged Anna Percy, whose life is nonetheless not perfect. Anna's parents are divorced, her older sister Susan is in rehab, and Anna has moved to L.A. to try living with her dad, who's promised her a literary agency internship. The first book introduced Anna to her Mr. Perfect, Ben Birnbaum, who then let her down badly - 'Ben who?' is her new mantra. As the episode opens, Anna continues to reject Ben's desperate attempts to make amends, while Susan (she and Anna are close though they clash as sisters always do) flunks out of rehab. Anna's L.A. friends are a mixed lot - all have a past connection with Ben and they're as likely to do Anna (and each other) a mean turn as a good one. Anna's nemesis from the first book, Sam Sharpe, is the best of the bunch, and she's experiencing some confusion about her sexual orientation. Sam's close friends, Dee and Cammie, from families even more dysfunctional than Anna's, can be downright nasty - manipulative young women taking out their anger on others. And then there's Adam Flood. Decent and from a loving family, he falls hard for Anna. Why can't she be attracted to him more and Ben less? Life is complicated for this crowd, despite money smoothing their way as they party through life. Anna and Sam make a school project film together, a parody of The Great Gatsby, at a luxury desert spa. Its action gets steamy, finally resulting in honest dialog. Girls on Film ends with some resolution between Susan and her father, and between Anna and Ben. I recommend The A-List series to older teens, who will appreciate that, even lived in Tinseltown, life is not a movie. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews