Black Sheep » (Reprint)

Fed up with her parents and all their ridiculous rules (they keep a binder full of them), fifteen-year-old Kendra Bishop writes away to The Black Sheep, a reality TV show that offers the chance to swap families with another teen. But when the camera crew shows up at her Manhattan apartment, Kendra starts to have second thoughts. Too late. Kendra’s whisked away to Monterey, California, to live with the Mulligans. The carefree household that couldn’t be more different that her own—complete with hippy parents, their five kids, and a pet ferret. And falling for Mitch, the Mulligan's seventeen-year-old son, only complicates things further, especially since Mitch despises the TV show and everything it stands for. But given the chance, Kendra might just be able to juggle first love, her new stardom, and a pushy TV producer who will stop at nothing for higher ratings.

In this hilarious and touching YA novel, Kendra learns to live under a new roof, but finds true refuge in the unlikeliest of places—her own family.

Publishers Weekly

Reality TV and environmental activism give a trendy spin to Collins and Rideout's (the Vivian Leigh Reid series) cheery fish-out-of-water romance. Selected to star in a reality show called "The Black Sheep," Kendra swaps her sterile, rule-bound Manhattan existence for the Mulligan family's hippie-ish and chaotic household in Monterey, Calif., where she spends nearly every waking moment being trailed by a TV crew. Despite this lack of privacy, Kendra manages to keep secret her prickly-at-first romance with the Mulligan's eldest son, Mitch, an aspiring marine biologist. Partly to impress Mitch, but mostly because she finds herself truly caring, Kendra becomes involved with a sea otter preservation group, and even organizes a demonstration to safeguard the animals' habitat. Meanwhile, the show's megalomaniacal producer Judy, in search of ever-higher ratings, manufactures a conflict that results in the viewing audience voting to decide if Kendra should divorce her parents. In a neat summation of just how unreal reality TV can be, her alleged desire for emancipation is broadcast to the nation in a statement composed entirely of quotes taken out of context. Kendra's bright and breezy first-person narration moves things along at a rapid clip and the larger-than-life personalities and plot are balanced by her heartfelt reflections on family and fame. Ages 12-up. (May)