Ambitious

Premiere High #1

by Monica McKayhan

There's only one thing tougher than getting in to Premiere Staying in…

At Premiere School of the Performing Arts, nicknamed Premiere High, talent is a must and competition is fierce. But the payoff is worth it. Some of the biggest stars in music, movies and dance are on the alumni list. New student Marisol Garcia dreams of taking her place among them one day. And being chosen to take part in a local dance contest where a film role is the prize could possibly be her first step into the spotlight.

Almost as big a getting Drew Bishop to see her as more than a friend. But Drew is preoccupied with his own dilemma of either playing basketball, which could be a free ticket to college, or pursuing the stage where he really comes alive. But every dream comes with a price. And as Marisol becomes consumed with winning, the once straight–A student risks losing everything. Starting with her parents' approval, her friends and her place at Premiere High…

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Drama, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2011

About the author

Monica McKayhan started writing when she was twelve years old, always dreaming of becoming a published author. Finally her dream came true when her fi rst novel, As Real As It Gets, was published in January 2005. Since then Monica has written several adult and young adult novels.

She attended public schools in Kansas City, Kansas, where she played basketball, was a member of the pep squad and was on the debate team. She was vice president of the French club and was also one of four speakers at her high school graduation.

Monica now lives in the Dallas–Fort Worth area with her family. She enjoys writing, reading, hanging out at Starbucks, shopping and being with family.

Reviews

[Tiffany Spencer]

Ambitious
On the way to her audition, at Premiere High, Marisol sees her first kiss Diego getting arrested by the police. She wishes she could go back in time, but rush’s on to make her audition to get into JC’s dance class. She’s already made it into the hottest performing arts school now to get into the hottest class. Marisol has fantasy’s off being a star one day! Onstage she preforms a hip-hop routine and by the end of it even tho JC has a poker face, everyone else in the audience claps and whistles. (We learn from background Marisol’s friend Luz could have also got accepted at Premiere but she chooses to stay at public school to go into the medical field).

On her way out, Marisol bumps into a guy named Drew that’s auditioning for a class in Shakespearean theatre. He convinces her to go with him to Manny’s pizza place after the audition. Marisol knows she should get home and update her crew on how her own audition went but out of curiosity she sticks around to watch his audition (and she sees he has skills). At Manny’s she’s introduced to his friend (Preston). They start asking Marisol about her background (family, what school she attended before, what brought her to Premiere). She asks him what made him choose acting and he admits even tho he choose it it’s still an issue with his dad. Marisol is getting some serious vibes that he’s feeling her (he’s staring at her). But then her girl ask her to hang at the mall and then his girlfriend walks over to the table.

At the mall, Marisol bumps into Diego who tells her the cops always harass him. They thought he was apart of carjacking. They had no proof so they had to let him go. Then like that he’s gone and tells her he’ll see her later. Drew stalls not wanting to tell his father (who was starting guard on his HS and college teams and there was even talk of drafting into the NBA) he got accepted into Premiere. When he does tell him all he says is “Ok”. Drew asks for his blessing (and even tries to tell him it doesn’t mean he has to give up basketball-even tho the school doesn’t have a team-). His father says tho “he has meetings all day tomorrow”.

On the first day of class, Marisol is late for dance class and JC chews her out-no longer the charming person she was with Marisol’s parents at Orientation-. A girl in her class (Jasmine) makes the offer (when she finds out where she lives) that they should look out for each other and invites Marisol to lunch. At lunch, Jasmine introduces her to her friends (Bridgette, Celine, and Charmine). Before this a guy hands her, a flier and says she should enter into a contest called “Dance America”. Drew comes by their table and invites them to hang at Manny’s after school.

(We see that Celine has a thing for Drew here and later when she hangs all over him at Manny’s. We can also tell he’s not into her like that but he likes the attention). Another thing we learn is that Jasmine isn’t like the typical performing arts students we’ve read about. She likes to smoke, and she doesn’t necessarily care about fat, carbs, or sugar. We find out that Preston goes to another school called Breckinridge but he wants to go to Premiere. He can play the violin but his parents won’t let him go because they all went to Breckinridge.

Marisol keeps saying she’ll think about the contest when they ask will she enter. Jasmine says she needs the money. By the time she and Jasmine leave Manny’s tho she’s seriously thinking about if she has a chance. Later at Luz’s (while doing her hair) Marisol convinces her to audition with her for Dance America. Drew decides to take his car to school. He’s auditioning for the part of Walter Lee Young from A Raisin in the Sun. Only the security guard won’t let him park without a pass (despite who his daddy is). He gets to class 10 minutes late. The guy before him does a good audition for the same part (Jason). His audition also goes well. There’s a girl after him those auditions for the part of Mama and she knocks it out. He finds out her name is Asha and tries to make plans with her but she goes off with Jason. Too make things worse, he’s seconds too late from getting a ticket because his time is up on the meter.

Mari introduces Jasmine to her girls Luz, Kristina, and Grace. While practicing, Jasmine, Liz, and Mari become a group and call themselves The Brooklyn Beleelzas (beauties). Mari can tell Luz is jealous of her and Jasmine’s friendship but that’s just how it is. Preston’s school is playing Drew’s old school so they go to the game. Drew’s school loses by a point. The Coach dismisses Drew’s reason to pursue his passion and his teammates call him a sell-out and are cold to him. It’s because of this Drew is convinced he made the right choice. JC begins to work with Jasmine and Mari on choreography for their routine and it changes some. She offers to tutor them during lunch. Mari tries to change it to evenings so maybe Luz can come but she says can’t do it. She says the third one probably won’t work out anyway and they should cut her. Mari says tho they started as three and that’s what it’ll be. So, she vows to video-tape them the next time they practice and bring Luz up to speed. She’s confident she’ll catch on.

In Advanced Algebra, Drew surprises Mari by showing up and telling her he switched classes. He sends her a note to meet him at Manny’s after school because he has something to ask her. So, she cancels plans with Luz who asks can she hang at the mall. Drew announces that he got the lead role for A Raisin in the Sun. Mari is excited because she thinks (and has told Jasmine) that he’s gonna ask her to the Fall Social. But the question he has to ask her is if she’ll tutor him in math. She says she’ll get back to him (knowing she’s gonna say yes). When Marisol arrives home, not only does she find Nico (her brother) about to be in a fight with Diego and some gang members (over him joining their gang) but Luz has gotten a new dance partner for the contest.

Preston wants to see Jasmine so they hit up a pancake join called “Juniors” in the Bronx. Drew gets Mari’s number from Jasmine and they make a phone date when he gets back-just to make sure he got in safe (Mari says). Over the course of a week, Preston and Jasmine become an item. Luz and Catalina do a HOT routine to “Whip My Hair” and they move on to the second round. Marisol and Jasmine also move on to the second round with their routine that incorporates poppin and lockin. Drew shows up to give his support to Marisol. Mari and Jasmine also make the second round. The judges say they were the best in the 50. Luz and Catalina don’t. She tells her parents that means she’s in the top 10. If they make it to the top 5 they’ll get to be in a movie and go to Hollywood. Jasmine and Mari make the final cut. There’s a party thrown for Mari in celebration but Luz isn’t there (even tho her family is).

One of the cutest boys at Premiere (Jesse Lucus) asks Mari to the Fall Social. But her history teacher gives her back a test where she’s made a D. He wants to meet with her on Friday afternoon but it’s the afternoon she leaves for Hollywood. When Drew tells his father about his role in the play (by Thanksgiving) he says he’ll come if he doesn’t have to work (which to him at least isn’t a no). Mari’s mother brings her mood down because she’s heard of the fight she and Luz had from Nico and worries that it’s changing her. But her Poppi says he’s proud of her and that her mother will come around. While hanging out, Mari and Drew play (basketball) and pop lock. I think Drew accidently spills something on Mari and she has to change into his over-sized clothes. (I think he also shows her his trophies). There’s a moment when they almost kiss but they’re interrupted by a call

from Preston. By the time he walks her to the subway, it’s awkward. There’s a point when Mari goes in Nico’s room and she finds a gun. Again he puts a tight grip on her and makes her promise she won’t tell. At the airport, Jasmine doesn’t show. When Mari texts her, she says she can’t go. Her father had a heart attack. Someone else was chosen and it turns out the wild card pick is Luz. Luz admits to Mari she felt like Jasmine was taking her place, but Mari says she likes Jasmine but she and Luz have history. So they make up. When they get checked into the hotel, Gloria (the producer) tells them that night they’ll be having dinner with some people over the money, the cast, and possibly Justin Bieber. Then they’ll be going to a teen club where they’ll be celebrated. The next morning, they’ll dance for the director at Universal Studios.

Drew texts Mari but she doesn’t get back. He finds out from Preston (who finds out from Jasmine) that Mari is going to the prom with Jesse. So, he focuses on his upcoming algebra test-not having anyone to blame but himself because he took it for granted she wouldn’t be asked-. While playing ball with his old teammates-who he’s made up with- a scout from Georgetown is there that’s taken interest in Drew since the 8th grade. He invites him to tour the campus and go to one of the games. Drew starts to wonder if he really made the right choice going to Premiere.

Mari auditions but Tim gets picked instantly. Gloria takes them back to the hotel and says she wants to give them another tour, at five but Mari goes back to her room and falls asleep until the next morning. By morning, she packs her stuff and is ready to go home. Hollywood doesn’t have anything for her anymore! Drew’s father shows up at his play (with his Grandma) in the front row and claps his head off. Just as Mari gets home, she sees a crowd. Nico has a gun and it’s pointed at Diego. Diego knocks it out his hand and they wrestle. The gun goes off. Diego takes off before the police come. He tells Mari he didn’t mean to shoot Nico. Nico is rushed to the hospital. The doctor says Nico is going to be ok. The bullet missed his lungs and they’re going to do an emergency surgery. Marisol waits for Jesse the night of the dance, but Drew shows up in a silver car with a single rose. He will not tell her what happened to Jesse. As they drive away, listening to a Doug E Fresh song she knows it’s going to be a night like no other.

Rating: 5 “It Girls” was better! This plot was just mediocre! Drew’s chapters seem to repeat themselves. Should I be actor? Did I do the right thing giving up basketball? I want my father’s approval. Then everything felt too easy. It’s Mari gets in the school. Then she gets into Dance America. Then she makes the Top 5. I’m actually surprised she didn’t win the contest. The same with Drew. It’s his first year yet he gets the starring role in Rasin In The Sun.

[Ellen Sara]

This book dealt brought up a lot of teen issues. It talks about body image, gangs, smoking etc. It also has the POV of our heroine Mari and her possible love interest Drew. They each have decided to enroll in an artistic school. The book talks about what they gain but also give up by choosing that school. I can see how this will make a great series. There are plenty of characters for each book to focus on. I'm not from New York so I enjoyed reading about the city. I really liked how protective Mari's parents were with her. I think younger teens will enjoy this book.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Girl gets accepted to a massively competitive performing arts high school and soon proves herself one of the best dancers in the school...and gets the hottest and most talented guy in her class.

Wait...that's not how it works, is it?

In Ambitious, it definitely works that way. Marisol is accepted both to Premiere High School of Performing Arts AND the top dance class in the school despite any formal dance training. A free class the previous summer seems to be Marisol's only actual dance instruction. People can be naturally talented, but from the first page, Ambitious flirts with snapping my suspension of disbelief.

Her love interest, Drew, also is far better than seems reasonable. With echoes of High School Musical dancing and singing through the head, Drew's not only a standout basketball star who's approached by a Georgetown scout in his sophomore year (after he's stopped playing ball in order to attend Premiere), but he's also apparently an amazingly talented actor who lands the starring role of Walter Lee Younger in the school production of A Raisin in the Sun. This is despite any acting experience beyond a Christmas pageant in sixth grade and an Easter play at his grandmother's church.

Marisol and Drew alternate point-of-view chapters as they experience the first months of attending Premiere High. They both have to handle family issues – Marisol's little brother is being pressured to join a gang and Drew's dad doesn't like his son giving up basketball. Marisol also has difficulties combining her neighbourhood friends with the girls and guys she meets at school in Manhattan.

Marisol is a likeable enough character as she deals with leaving her close-knit Brooklyn neighbourhood and expanding her horizons into Manhattan – and hopefully future stardom. But while the character is sweet, she never seems to have to actually struggle to achieve anything. She competes in a Dance America! Contest – referred in the book as the most competitive dance competition in the country, but Marisol breezes through to the finals in California while seeming to only train for the competition at lunch. Her old best friend is jealous over Mari's new school friends, but the issue is smoothed over when said old friend gets sick of the girl she befriended to replace Marisol and tries to make amends. She worries about boys, but they compete with each other to ask her to the formal dance. Without much adversity to define her character, the likable qualities seem mostly one-note and the character lacks needed complexity.

I wasn't nearly as fond of Drew even on a superficial level. His chapters failed to provide a level of character development expected from a main character, and they mostly detail his name brand possessions and trips to see Knicks' games or golf outings. I kept expecting some quality of self-reflection from him, especially given his interest in acting, but I was disappointed. The only scene where his character seemed like a human and a teenage boy instead of the author's conception of the ideal teenage boy was when his grandmother visited and talked with him about acting and girls. But even then, I was glaring at the page, annoyed that his grandmother is portrayed almost as maid – she comes by every week or so to clean Drew and his father's apartment, do their laundry, and cook for them. I wanted to shake the boy and ask if he really was sitting there letting his elderly grandma scrub his toilet.

I had high hopes for Ambitious. I've such a soft spot for stories a) about boarding schools/exclusive schools and b) about theatre or dance, and this one seemed to hit all those points. The synopsis and promise of a future series set at a Manhattan performing arts high school sounded like it could be really interesting and full of the backstabbing drama that only really shows up in the arts. But until the characters actually have to work to succeed in such a high pressure environment, I'll be passing on any future Premiere books.

[Clementine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marisol Garcia dreams of becoming a famous dancer. Her ticket to stardom is entry into the Premiere School of the Performing Arts, aka Premiere High. She gets in and pretty soon is also entered into a local dance contest which boasts a film role as a prize. As Marisol struggles to balance school, dance, and family, she also struggles to figure out why Drew Bishop is so reluctant to be more than her friend. Drew’s got his own problems, though: he’s a star basketball player who also loves to act. Both teens have obstacles to face in their quest to pursue their dreams, but they also have to learn to stay true to themselves.

Here’s the problem with Monica McKayhan’s new series of novels aimed at reluctant and struggling readers: she’s taken a good premise and has laid the groundwork for a series that could be both interesting and helpful for teens struggling with reading, but it’s not very well executed. While the concept of a performing arts high school is certain to appeal to a specific demographic of teens (this book is clearly aimed at fans of the Step Up movies, as well as the remake of FAME), it’s not very well-researched and therefore doesn’t present a very accurate picture of what it is to go to a performing arts school. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, because there’s a lot that doesn’t quite work in Ambitious.

But first, let’s focus on the positives. McKayhan has presented a group of teens representing multiple races and ethnicities and coming from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. It’s refreshing, to say the least, to have a group of teens who don’t come from wealthy backgrounds and a life of privilege. This is going to work well with teens who are sick of reading about spoiled rich white kids living on the Upper East Side.

McKayhan also does a nice job of presenting layered, complex female friendships. This is, perhaps, the strongest plot point in the novel. Marisol must struggle to manage her friendships: the new ones she makes at Premiere, and her old ones from her neighborhood. There’s several good moments as the girls grapple with where they fit in each others’ lives as they move apart and discover new interests.

However, the novel is also frequently too didactic, covering issues ranging from gang life to smoking to bad grades with a kind of heavy-handed tone that most teens are going to see right through. These passages are often awkward and clunky, taking the reader out of the narrative. Stilted dialogue runs throughout the book, but it is in the passages trying to teach a lesson or relay a message that it is the most noticeable.

The chapters switch off between Marisol’s narration and Drew’s, and while it’s clear that McKayhan is trying to hook both male and female readers alike, the voices aren’t distinctive enough for it to really work. Added to this is a smorgasbord of exposition and uneven pacing. The whole book comes off as awkward and half-baked.

That being said, I recognize that it is a series which aims to appeal to a particular demographic. There aren’t a ton of options for teens interested in urban fiction, especially if they’re reading below grade level. This is a novel that might work for those teens interested in the performing arts.

Ambitious by Monica McKayhan. Kimani: 2011. Electronic galley accepted for review via Netgalley.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

New students Marisol and Drew negotiate the ambitious waters at Premiere School, following their respective artistic passions of dance and acting, making new friends, navigating academics, and flirting with each other. I loved the concept for this as I'm a sucker for "Step Up," "Center Stage," and other dance movies. But I was not very impressed with the book as a whole finding it lacking in plot and characters.

Marisol is a decent character. Her dream is to dance and she pursues that dream by auditioning for the prestigious Premiere School, even though her family and neighbors didn't think she could get in. She does and keeps pushing herself in dance to audition for a dance contest that could launch her into the big time. But she's also caught between new friends and old friends. This all sounds like a lot of drama and conflict but it's not really. Mari easily gets in to the school, despite little formal dance training and easily secures a place in the contest without much training or practice. The friendship drama was a little bit more drawn out but in the end they reconciled pretty easily. Still she was miles better than Drew.

Drew started out okay. He was a star basketball player trying to be like his dad when he decides that he wants to try acting. After a few chapters, he is more fully drawn as an arrogant player who expects everything to be given to him. He's constantly assessing the bodies of the girls around him and using them; he's greedy, cocky, and selfish; and I just disliked him so much. He had little depth, being a pretty rich kid who never really struggles despite the attempts to portray him as struggling. He easily wins the lead in the school play despite being a sophomore with little acting experience. And college scouts are still interested in him for basketball. His biggest trouble is his shyness with Mari, the one tiny area where he has to work a bit but even there he displaces her date, pleasing rather than outraging her.

One other thing I noticed was the presence of various brand names that set the book firmly in this time (Justin Bieber is huge for the girls-I do not get that boy's appeal). They seemed to dominate the story: from food to clothes to singers. I noticed them so much more than in any other story I've read recently and I didn't really like that.

Overall: Flat characters with little depth and easy plot turns.

[Jennifer Ellision · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full review posted here: http://www.almostgrownup.net/2011/08/...

I really liked the premise of this book. I’m a sucker for the movies that this book pretty much emulates.

Marisol and Drew are both likable characters (though Drew suffers a major case of HORMONES and seems to like every girl he meets).I liked that the two of them are classic teenagers: yes, they have some attraction to the other, but it doesn’t blind them to their own lives or to other members of the opposite sex. The conflicts that Marisol and Drew face with their chosen paths are good ones, but they’re a bit glossed over at some points.

A lot of the competition scenes were fun to picture as well.

What I didn’t like: There were a lot of times in this book that I thought it could have been developed more, but it seemed like the writer took the easy way out. Mari’s best friend Luz shows up to make the final 5 in the Dance America contest as a “Wild Card” contestant, when she didn’t even make the cut to the final ten. That was just entirely unrealistic to me. I also wish that Drew and Mari’s problems (Drew with the possibility of a scholarship and Mari with her grades) had been explored more. They were dismissed much too easily for their situations.

I also would have enjoyed seeing their relationship explored a bit more. There is one almost-kiss before the ending occurs and the sexual tension between them there is good, but it’s the only time I see them together in a more romantic light.

The book was also bogged down by symptoms of Telling-Not-Showing Syndrome and Repetition-itis. I often found a phrase used twice or more on a single page. And I felt discredited as a reader for being told some things that I easily could have just inferred.

So, do I rec it? If you’re into theatre or enjoy movies like Step Up, Dirty Dancing, Save the Last Dance, or High School Musical, you may like this book. Basically, movies that are about teens that overcome some obstacles to perform the way they love. I found myself drawing parallels to those kinds of movies throughout the book. However, I probably won’t read the next “Premiere High” novel. I didn’t find this one to be much my taste.

[Rabiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally Posted at: http://iliveforreading.blogspot.com/2...

This took me a while to get to, as the reading pile has expanded hugely, but surprisingly, it's not a very long read. It only took me around a day to complete it. I liked the story line and the characters well enough, but it was a book that didn't really WOW me. Unlike most books about the fine arts, this didn't really show the difficulty and struggles of dance, acting and music. Sure, they touched upon some points, but nothing too much that was like in Virtuosity or Various Positions.

The characters were well thought out and of course, very unique. The story is told from two perspectives of the main characters, Mari and Drew. Mari was the more dominant main character, as by how the story is mainly about her.
I found Mari a 'neutral' character. Like, I didn't find her extremely exciting nor made me feel like throwing a brick at her head. She could have been a little more interesting, but I generally had no problem with her.
Drew is the other main character and Mari's love interest. I didn't like him at all, I'm sorry to say. He's too much of a womanizer, to put it frankly. He kept checking out other girls, using them for homework etc. and then keeps thinking about Mari. Really ticked me off.

The supporting characters I did love though. Jasmine and Preston were probably the most interesting people in this book, along with Nico (Mari's brother), yet he only appeared in little bits of the book.
Preston I LOVED. I wish he'd have been the love interest instead of Drew. He's sweet, really funny and doesn't use girls the way Drew does. Jasmine actually had character. She faced a struggle, helping at home, had parents with low income jobs. THIS, people, is substance that is needed for a book. Can't help it– we readers are leopards, hunting down the more interesting characters.

Overall, this book is great if you want a short story to read about the "lighter" side to the life of a student (or two) and their problems in the fine arts.

[Isamlq · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ambitious did nothing for me on any level. The characters lacked a depth to have me caring about the outcome of their story. My reading experience went along the lines of 'Yeah? So what?'

As said, the characters lacked a depth to them. Mari has her dancing. She's been admitted to a prestigious Arts school. There's nothing really that she has to beat... there's no big drama in her life except that is to win a big dance competition. 'And so what?,' I asked. I really didn't care about her.

Maybe the love interest is a different matter because Drew's a player both on and off court, who'd dropped both to be in the same school to train to act. And you know what? I still felt nothing for him either. OK... I may have felt something a bit stronger... just nothing good given his tendency towards being a pig. What he is, is a player. Even at the beginning when they barely knew each other, he'd shown himself concerned only with girls and how others saw him, there's also the fact that he expected others to be impressed with who his father was! Maybe I should like him more for being imperfect in this way but I just couldn't bring myself to do that.

My disconnection to story might have been exacerbated by the way they spoke and thought... or the way the overall story was told (and I'm not talking about the shifting POV's.) I felt the writing to be too easy, predictable. Each character always had something to say, had a way of responding that seemed contrived and fake to me. It seemed they said something or behaved in a certain manner because it's what was expected. Perhaps 'easy' isn't the right word. Neat? Yeah, everything was way too neat, as in 'this goes in that slot and that one in this slot.' Everything had a place, postion and sequence.

1.5/5
Thanks NETGALLEY

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of all those Dancing Flicks, the ones where they audition and then they don't get in and then along the way something happens and they are given a second shot and make it . I love them from Step Up trilogy to Centre Stage Duo to Make it Happen and Burlesque. Ambitious read a bit between Britannia High, Step Up and Fame. In Ambitious we meet Mari aka Marisol, her passion since she could remember was dancing her Mexican-American butt off , she lives for it and when she's offered the chance to audition for Premiere High - a School of Music, Arts, Dance - her dream school - she jumps at it but of course, theres a few things she has to do first. The first is to persuade her parents to let her audition. However, as we all know dreams can come with a price tag attached and though it may not be monetary it can make you lose and risk everything that you have ever dreamed off. For Mari, the pricetag is new hottie Drew and the goal of getting him to see her more than just a casual friend, this won't be an easy task as Drew as his eyes set on his goals of playing Basketball and winning a scholarship which would be his free ride to College or as we say in New Zealand -University. When Mari starts to obsess over winning Drew , we read as everything else starts to take second best in her life and soon she is so consumed about Drew that she doesn't realise everything else is being pushed further and further away.
Will she realise what's happened before it's too late or has her obsession with Drew destroyed her one goal ?Find out what can happen when Love and Lust takes over. It is interesting this though as I found with my studies , it's quite difficult having a guy around as your'e studies, work etc tends to get pushed to the backburner lol.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a really, really hard book to read. From the very first the short, clipped sentences began to annoy. I think they are meant to be the random way in which a teen thinks but it was so stilted and unforgiving that I almost considered not continuing. The dialogue was very hit or miss as well. There seemed to be no flow to it and none of the characters ever gained their own distinctive voice through the novel. The repetitive “Premiere High” was almost too much to bear…any time the school was mentioned it was always with the full name. It seems like just a little thing but it became so annoying after reading it hundreds of times. Mari, the main character, is a puzzle to me. We are explained how exclusive “Premier High” is but then told she just started taking dance classes the previous spring. The book does change viewpoints among the characters but the story never stalls for this switch overs and continues to move forward at its slow pace. It really is a step by step book in that you are walked through each moment of the day (order pizza, discuss toppings, order soda, describe soda) which can get exhausting.
I do think this book may have its place with the pre-teen set. I assume it’s aimed at high school due to its content but the grammar, language and choppy sentences will make it more appealing to a younger audience. Fans of ”Secret Hollywood Life”, for example, may enjoy this. Otherwise, I’m honestly at a loss to identify the targeted audience.

ARC Galley Proof

[Crystal ✬ Lost in Storyland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ambitious just wasn’t the book for me. The idea was nice: I like how the novel features ethnic variety in the two narrators, Mari being a poor Latina dancer and Drew being a wealthy African American, and I like the premise behind the novel. However, it wasn't developed well enough for me. The characters are superficial and stereotypical, and the entire plot is too generalized and overly predictable as a whole.

I like to see characters struggle. While Mari and Drew, the two narrators, do have problems of their own, the various side plots were never developed with depth, and everything else came too easy for them. Mari is gorgeous and excels at dancing when she hasn’t taken many formal dance classes. Drew is a star basketball player who decided to pursue his love of the stage, and he too takes lead roles without having studied acting. And just how did they both make it into the prestigious Premiere High without much formal study of their choice of the performing arts?

On the whole, there isn’t nearly enough character or plot development for me, an underlying problem that I’ve found in shorter YA novels. Rather than calling this a YA novel, I believe that middle grade students will enjoy a lot more, as the story isn’t complex, though I have read middle-grade novels that I liked a lot better. Note that there are gangs in this book, smoking, and romance. There isn’t any sexual activity.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambitious by Monica McKayhan follows Marisol a latina dancer from a rough neighborhood and Drew a wealthy African American boy who have just started attending a Premiere, a performing arts high school. Marisol and Drew both have to navigate this new world and deal with families and friends who do not understand why they gave up their normal lives and schools to attend Premiere.

This book was written specifically for reluctant readers and because of this it may not appeal to the general audience. It is not complex and the performing arts aspect is not well researched. However, this is a book that very low achieving and reluctant readers will enjoy. The characters are not rich white teens who have perfect lives but are ethnic and come from rocky neighborhoods/families. The book is fairly short, the plot is clear and easy to follow, and the teenagers act like teenagers (which is rare with books that are this easy to read).

Appropriateness: There is a bit of adult behavior in this novel but nothing major and there is no sexual activity. One of Marisol's friends smokes constantly (to which Marisol makes many catty comments) and there are some gang situations. I would recommend this book to reluctant readers 14+ (however it is appropriate for younger teens).

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't dislike this book, but I guess it wasn't meant for me as I prefer a little more depth in my stories. The characters are supposed to be teenagers but are childish and stereotyped when they are not boring as they are one-dimensional. I don't understand why McKayhan chose to use an alternate narration between Marisol and Drew as they don't bring much to the dynamic of the story, which is to smooth. I was expecting something more thrilling, vivid like a literary version of Fame, but it's just a nice story.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: A Premiere High Novel

[Elsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's ok.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read if you like so you think you can dance.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It was a quick, cute story.