The Allegra Biscotti Collection: Book 1

The Allegra Biscotti Collection #1

by Olivia Bennett

She would be a world renown fashion designer—but can she pass the 7th grade? Emma Rose is SO not a diva. She doesn't want her turn on the catwalk—she'd rather be behind the scenes creating fabulous outfits! So when a famous fashionista discovers Emma's designs and offers her the opportunity of a lifetime—a feature in Madison magazine (squeal!)—Emma sort of, well, panics. She has only one to create a secret identity. And so Allegra Biscotti is born. Allegra is worldly, sophisticated, and bold—everything Emma is not. But the pressure is on. And Emma quickly discovers juggling school, a new crush, friends, and a secret identity might not be as glamorous as she thought.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Fashion, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Chick Lit

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Olivia Bennett has had a passion for fashion since she was a young girl, putting together surprising outfits for the daily fashion show that took place in the school hallways. When not writing, Olivia can be found hot-gluing and sewing amazing DIY projects.

Reviews

[Arminzerella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked all of the little fashion sketches within the pages of this book; it was like reading someone’s art journal, but I couldn’t finish it (well, I *could,*I just couldn’t make myself suffer through the drama in the middle). Allegra Biscotti is the invented designer’s name that Emma comes up with when she is “discovered” at her father’s lace factory by fashion writer/diva Paige Young. I don’t know why it would have been so bad for her to claim her own work, but she stupidly panics when she comes face to face with Paige and then has to deal with the consequences of her subterfuge. Oops. This is a pretty common plot device. Add that to the rift between her and her best friend – they’re in 8th grade now, and growing apart – and this becomes a pretty predictable piece. I couldn’t take it anymore and skipped to the end after reading about 50 pages. You’ll be thrilled to learn that the BFFs resolve their differences (although, Emma doesn’t know if she can trust Holly as she once did), and Allegra Biscotti is a hit (although Paige swears Emma to absolute secrecy – NO ONE would take them seriously if they were to discover Emma is only 14 – UGH. Who CARES?). With a holiday collection to create and reveal, there’s going to be a sequel! Which I am not going to start or finish. This will be loved by girls who like fashion, realistic fiction, chick lit, and who haven’t already read (or aren’t sick of) a bunch of books like this.

[Brianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book as a free kindle download and was intrigued by the description of the plot- mistaken identity, fashion design. I was expecting a bit of a Devil Wears Prada feel.

I should have looked more closely. As I was reading, I found the plot to be completely unrealistic and was pretty disappointed. Then this morning as I was looking up the ISBN to add it to my list here, I saw that it was written for grades 5-8. Now I'm all for reading something fun from the YA section, but this was definitely a book I would have skipped had I seen that.

A quick read, fine for the plane, but not one I'd recommend to anyone out of high school.

[Holly Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because I found out one of my fifth graders liked sketching fashion designs. I tweeted out to the #nerdybookclub folks to see if anyone knew of titles with characters who liked fashion, and Gary Anderson tweeted back with this. I thought it was entertaining, funny, and a great title to recommend to my student. It reminded me a lot of All Four Stars by Tara Dairman, another book I'm going to recommend to this girl because she also likes to cook! This story intrigued me enough to want to read more of the series.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh... childhood favorites! I would always drool over the clothes described in this book!

[eggtart · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s the delusional way I thought I was gonna be a fashion designer after reading this when I didn’t even know how to sew correctly or put thread through a needle hole! Pls.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Emma wants to be a fashion designer more than anything. She has a small room at her father's warehouse where she designs and sews clothes. Every day on the way to school, she creates the ultimate fashion outfit from taking different pieces she sees and changing them to fit her style.

When a famous fashionista comes down to her father's warehouse and stumbles upon her designs, it's almost miraculous. Except for one small detail: it's hard to be a fashion designer when you're only in eighth grade.

On the spot, Emma makes up the secret identity of Allegra Biscotti for her designs. Now, she's exchanging texts with a fashion editor from Madison magazine for a feature interview. After the interview airs, the editor asks for three unique items from her Spring Collection.

Her friend, Charlie, helps her keep her lies straight and helps create a business persona. He's the only one who knows the truth. Emma can't risk telling her BFF, Holly, because Holly's infiltrating the popular crowd. As much as she tries to bring Emma into the group, Emma resists. She can't stand how superficial the girls can be, and she can't stand how they're supposed to be best friends while they're mean to each other.

As the deadline looms, Emma's not sure she can finish creating these pieces.

I really enjoyed this book - the first in a new series dealing with friendship drama, lies, fashion, and decisions about the future.

[PF · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of natural gifts & budding genius in couture. The opening scene was a particularly powerful illustration of the mind of genius at any age, making it surprising when the reader discovers the actual age of the character.

Definitely a girlie book, the rest of the book deals with a tricky balance between adult responsibilities and commitments while struggling with normal social challenges of middle school when you're not part of the in-crowd. The added complexity of the false identity could be used to provoke interesting conversations on protecting child identity/privacy issues vs. honesty. Personally, I'm not entirely sure I agree with how this is handled in the book.

There are a few rough spots in the writing, a few loose ends dangling at the end of the book. I'm not surprised to see a sequel listed. Despite these small issues, I have already recommended this book to friends, and would do so for young women or those entertained by the fashion industry.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most honest opinion on this book is it's the best book for aspiring Fashion Designers. It took me forever to stumble upon a great book that really focuses on fashion in the life of a realistic fiction character. This book is really entertaining. A brief summary of this story is that Emma is an aspiring Fashion Designer. While she was at her dad's lace wear house, she has an encounter with a big name in the fashion industry. By the time, the lady leaves, Emma has a big secret that only her best friend knows. In school, Emma struggles with friendship problems. She also has a crush on someone. At the end of the book, the lady who was big in the fashion industry, knows Emma's identity and it follows on to book two. Overall, i would definitely recommend this book for the typical girly girl or just a girl that loves fashion. You should really buy this book. It's really good! I would also rate this book five out of five stars. In addition, on a scale from one to ten, i would give it a ten!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with Kindle free books is that the brief description doesn't always give you enough information about the genre or the reading level. Despite reading this young-adult novel somewhat unintentionally, I was happy I did. Emma Rose, a 14 year old aspiring fashion designer, is discovered (unintentionally) by a major fashion editor. Rather than admitting that the designs are her own, she invents a fictitious designer, Allegra Biscotti, to disguise her age. The book spirals from this one lie as Emma needs to balance school, work, friendships and her alter ego Allegra, who has been asked to design a collection for an upcoming photo shoot. It was a fun read with a very likeable protagonist.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but good read for fashionistas. That's the only thing. You have to LOVE fashion to enjoy this book, you can't just like fashion because then, this book will seem boring. And you MUST be open-minded when reading this book. A 14-year-old girl desiging a dress so fabulous, the top designer of the time wants it is pretty unrealistic but just go with it. Not everything we read HAS to make perfect sense and HAS to be the best. A book like this is a book which you read when you are looking for something light, fun and completly unrealistic. It's about a young girl's fashion dream coming true. Is it realistic? No. Is it fun? Yes.

[Sindhu Gowda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book!

[Anslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good story, love how she had to keep a big secret

[Antoniya:)]

Like the PERFECT book for me! IT really inspired me!

[Littleredreaderhood · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from childhood and for good reason. No, it’s not a literary masterpiece and yes, the characters are so much more immature than I remember (14 y/o FMC reads so different when you’re 10 vs 24 lmao) BUT it’s genuinely a cute story and I can totally see why young (wanted to be a fashion designer when she grew up) Kenzie was obsessed.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I remembered about the plot and specific moments — I distinctly remember being heartbroken over the (spoiler lol) paint moment near the end of the book. I definitely thought it had much bigger consequences than the roughly 5 page breakdown it ended up being in this reread lol.
In a moment in my life where everything is super chaotic, it was very fun revisiting this story. There are so many more universal children’s books and series that transport me to being young, but this book feels so specific to my life in a very comforting way.
The actual book probably deserves 3 stars, but the rereading experience was 5/5.

[Brooke | brookesreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember loving this book in middle school. I reread it at least 17 times.
But now I honestly have no idea what it’s about 😂
I’m not sure I even know where this book is located anymore at this point 🤔
But imagine if 11-12 year old me learning that there were 2 books after this one!
I’d have told everyone I needed them.
I kind of still want to read them, but first I need to find the first one and reread it because I haven’t a clue what happens except the girl does something with clothes😂
It entertained me at middle school age though, so I’d recommend it to that age group.
Because I can’t remember the plot at all, but it held the attention of 12 year old me, I’ll give it a 3/5.

[maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

stop bc this actually held up so well…

read this series in like elementary school and i have such fond memories of reading it in the lobby of civic theater, waiting for my moms show to start. i randomly saw it at the shoreview library book sale thing and immediately snatched it up bc HELLO the plot is so fun!!! not to mention the cute pink sketches are so unique and cute. this wasn’t like perfect or anything, but i’ve been going through my middle grade books to purge and this one will 100% be staying.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book one and though the remaining books are suggested 12-15 reading are, I found it quite enchanting. Emma, would be fashion designer (14), spends all her spare time - including travelling to school sketching fashion items. When she can, she makes mock ups of some pieces in a “studio” in her Fathers lace factory. When a high end fashion editor espies one of her pieces things quickly spiral as the editor believes there a new fashionista in town. Loved it

[Janet Hamm · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of a 14 year old kid who loves designing clothes was great, but somehow this book just didn't hold my interest. I kept stopping reading to play on my phone. Like Charlie, the sidekick in the story, I found the complexities of pretending to be a fashion designer more interesting than the drama of navigating middle school, but only marginally.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My copy of this book is worn out and has a couple pages that is almost falling out. This was my anthem when I was in sixth grade, and I have certain respect for it. It was a world that I loved to be in, and I loved every aspect of it, the fashion, the setting, the characters. Even down to the little fashion sketches in the book. Love it.

[Mari Sample · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my absolute favorite as a pre-teen, and as I approach college graduation I can still say I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Bennett writes in a style that is appropriate and relatable for young people, but her talent still shines. She has such an understanding of human behavior that makes this book a masterpiece. Excellent

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this a 4 instead of the 3 because I’m interested in how the whole fake identity thing will go in future books. The story itself was meh, and a bit too enmeshed in detail on the designs. It’s cool that someone recognized Emma’s talent, though, and all the people willing to help her. The description of how she feels around her crush is pretty accurate too.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute. Loved the main character but would not recommend it to an YA reader. I think it gives the wrong message about lying and about success. Would her parents be supporting Emma in being a designer if she had not been chosen by Paige as the next hot designer? Instead of supporting her just because she has talent and that is where her interests are as opposed to academics?

[Jessica]

This was one of my favorite scholastic book fair reads as a middle school gal 💕 re reading it brought back such fun memories and honestly I still enjoyed it (and cringed a bit) reading it the second time around hahaha

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect book for tweens interested in fashion and design

[MariaWitBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and short

For what it is: easy fun read, it deserves 5 stars. For a summer holiday or train trip read... perfect

[JoJo Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realise it was a book for young girls, who would probably love it.

[Emma Bower · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say that this book is a very easy read, making it capable to finish in a few days. It has an intriguing plot, and is a recommendable book for anyone.

[Patricia Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this one:) There is some drawing of dresses and it was really gorgeous.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? I like fashion. The pictures certainly added to the plot. And I can tell the time period when this happened given the phones the characters had.

[Tya · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty