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Pace Academy #2
Famous
At prestigious Pace Academy, the Pacesetters make the rules. But in the world outside, being rich and popular doesn't always get you what you want.…
Starr has ambition, charisma and—thanks to her father's record company—all the connections to get her group major exposure. Just one Starr can't sing, and now her friends are looking to replace her with her archrival, Natalee.
Dionne is excited about being the rapper of the group—even if her parents don't approve. But it's hard to focus on her rhymes when there is too much drama at home.
Marisol loves the stage, though it's dancing, not singing, that's in her blood. She'd do anything for her friends—except give up her own shot at stardom.
With ego trippin' and infighting tearing their friendship apart, Starr, Dionne and Marisol are finding that the big time comes with even bigger problems.…
Starr has ambition, charisma and—thanks to her father's record company—all the connections to get her group major exposure. Just one Starr can't sing, and now her friends are looking to replace her with her archrival, Natalee.
Dionne is excited about being the rapper of the group—even if her parents don't approve. But it's hard to focus on her rhymes when there is too much drama at home.
Marisol loves the stage, though it's dancing, not singing, that's in her blood. She'd do anything for her friends—except give up her own shot at stardom.
With ego trippin' and infighting tearing their friendship apart, Starr, Dionne and Marisol are finding that the big time comes with even bigger problems.…
256 pages, Paperback
First published December 21, 2010
About the author
Simone Bryant
9 books4 followersSimone Bryant is the teen fiction psuedonym for bestselling author Niobia Bryant.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 20, 2025
Famous
Starr gets bored and starts a singing group for the Pacesetters called the Go-Getters. She wants the fame just like her RNB singer parents. So, she makes Dionne the rapper and Marisol the choreographer. Only she turns into a control freak and starts trying to do it all herself. She fires Marisol because her steps aren’t enough, but she can’t do the routine Marisol teaches her. Then to top it all off Starr can’t sing. Neither Dionne nor Marisol know how to tell her. Until it all blows up and Starr gets mad because Eli (the new choreographer) wants Marisol to be in a new girl group (the lead singer) and shoot a video. After she calls Marisol a “video ho” she tells Starr the truth and storms out to go to a football came with her new boyfriend (Percy). Starr continues to live in the fantasy that she has skills, until one day she’s in the studio watching her mother record and her Dad hits playback and it’s Starr’s voice. Cole asks “Who the tone-deaf hell is that?” Rather than just walking away, the Go-Getters enter the school’s talent show with Dionne rapping (she *does* have skills) and Natalee singing (Natalee is the daughter of a friend of Sasha’s. She’s a white girl with a black soulful voice. She and Starr clash a lot because Starr’s jealous of her and doesn’t want her at Pace). Starr just lipsyncs. The Go-Getters win the first prize of 500.00 but Marisol gives it to a homeless shelter (not like any of em need it). Starr’s other concerns in Famous are the Diva of Dish and Jordan. She has the Diva of Dish’s blog taken down because she sends an anonymous link to the principal on an unflattering blog the Diva wrote about him. She and Jordan go back and forth throughout the whole book. Both liking each other but Starr still holding on to her stubbornness that Jordan wants something she’s not ready for (even though he tells her he hasn’t slept with Heather and Heather herself shows her that she’s not pregnant). As much as Starr protests, Jordan says he’s not giving up on her. By the end of the book, she has a new crush Kyle Hunter who shows up at the Thanksgiving dinner that all the TopStarr artists. She adds him to her Hot Boy list. Also, the ballad Starr wrote gets sold and the producer that did her tracks gets hired by TopStarr. So Starr’s talent was in writing (which was fine with her because that’s where the real money was)
Marisol starts to date football player (Percy). They go out several times to Cooley’s (the popular ice cream place hang out) and she goes to a few of his games. Alex isn’t happy with it, finds out, and forbids her from talking to him further. She sneaks and continues the relationship anyway. By the end of the book, she catches Percy after the talent show with another girl in Cooleys. By the end of the book, he’s still trying to call Marisol but she’s over him. It’s found out at a party after an interview for Yasmine for a popular Latina magazine that she’s pregnant. Marisol definitely is NOT happy with this, but hopes it’s at least a girl. Other than the drama with Starr, Marisol’s dancing impresses so much that he tells her about the audition for the girl group and the video. She auditions with hundreds of girls and gets the stop. Alex previously told her NO WAY but when she tells her parents on Thanksgiving, Yasmine says they’ll find out more about the group (video) and they’ll talk about it (and it’s assumed this means Marisol can do the video). Marisol learns from Alex that being famous means using your fame to benefit others so she spends Thanksgiving at a homeless shelter with the rest of the Riveras. She then gives the check to the shelter but turns down being on camera.
Dionne still isn’t being honest with her crew. She’s with Hassan now officially but she lets Starr believe it’s some random guy she’s crushing on when she’s called out in class for writing his name in her notebook. She also doesn’t invite Hassan to the Lester’s Halloween ball. She also doesn’t want her friends to see where she lives or meet her mother. Her mother and Grandmother have to give her a lecture on not being ashamed of where you live because it makes you who you are. We see some of the girl’s from her old school think she’s on “Oreo” when she goes out with Hassan because of how she talks and they think she dresses too over the top. She does discover she has skills like her father Lahron the Don, even though at first she has a problem writing her rap. But she KILLS IT at the talent show (making her Dad proud). She does finally introduce her Mom to her friends and she lets Hassan go to a photoshoot with her and her Dad. But we see she still isn’t ready to let him into her new world fully. There’s some drama about Risha being slow to pick a new house, but she finally picks the one in South Orange. Risha wants to give Dionne the master bedroom because the house will be hers, but her grandma says don’t even think about it. So Dionne says that after all Risha gave up for her she wants her to have the big bedroom. There’s also some drama about “The Don” marrying this porn star ish woman (Candyliscuxxx). He says he didn’t marry her but he’s with her pretty heavily through the book. Even so far as going to the Lester’s party with her and Dionne and forgetting he was supposed to be the other half of Dionne’s costume but instead being Candy’s My guess she’s just his plaything but we’ll never know as the third book never came out.
Natalie, I didn’t really write a lot about in my last review because I thought she was just a random character, but in the last book she shows up outside Starr’s door wanting to hang out. She’s the daughter of one of Sasha’s friends. Starr kind of is dismissive of her because she’s stylish and looks like she could be a threat to her popularity. She even goes so far as to tell her Pace Academy is a bad school filled with gangsters and drug dealers. It’s discovered she’s an amazing singer and Dionne and Marisol immediately ask her to be in the group, but Starr says HELL NO! Natalie later confronts Starr at the Halloween party and asks what her problem is with her. Starr tells her she doesn’t want to be forced to be friends with her. But seconds later she remembers her mom’s lecture and invites her to a sleepover. Marisol and Natalee bond at the party, dance, and have fun together. Natalee catches Cole’s attention as she sings for Marisol and Percy. But Natalee really doesn’t want to sing. (Even tho later she’s offered a chance to record a three-song demo). She does join the GoGetters to sing as a part of the group for the talent show. It’s unknown if she accepts and records the demo.
My Thoughts:
I KNEW this series reminded me of the Cheetah Girls for some reason! This one even more so than the first. And since a lot of my memory of these books has faded since the last time I read them maybe it was a subconscious thing. It’s all there from Starr’s over the top, control, issues wanting to run the group to Marisol being a dancer.
This one had a little less “fabulous” in detail but it had some good thoughts on what it means to be famous. Sasha showed you should do what you love not for the money and the fame, but for the heart and the passion you get from it.
Alex said that Yasmine taught him to use his fame to do things for others. Even though ironically the only thing he did for “others” was give himself to the random woman that he cheated with. Maybe as the mistress she got a little something on the side.
Yasmine though definitely proved she used *her* fame for good causes. And out of all the Pacesetters (GoGetters) again Marisol was the only one that showed any *real* substance by giving the check to and spending Thanksgiving at the shelter. But then if this is true, I wonder why Marisol is the one that gets done the worse in the series. But isn’t it always *just* like that in the real world?
Starr was even more ridiculous than the last book! She’s really never tried to sing before now around *anybody*? Now I know she’s attempted to sing one of her parents songs while at one of her sleepovers if one of their old videos came on. I just can not believe it took *this* long to find this out.
Even more so this thing with Jordan where she just refuses to believe he won’t push up on her for sex even after telling her he didn’t sleep with Heather. I mean well maybe (meaning he probably will *sometime* in the future. It’s a STRONG possibility). But that doesn’t mean she has to GIVE IN. But she’s probably scared that she WILL give in. And again if he looks like the other one well… let’s just say YES that’s WAY too much temptation.
But I found myself thinking Starr COME ON! You look CRAZY! You can’t fault him for what he didn’t do and what he may have done in the past. I wanna say that if this series had continued (and it’s a shame that it didn’t) she *would* have by the third book just given in. Although I do applaud the technique on one hand because it’s just making *him* more determined. So Starr gets a gold star for not making it easy. But I do want to see Starr and Jordan together. Although I really do hope Jordan reaches SUPERSTAR status because something tells me a relationship with this girl will be a constant CHALLENGE because she’ll expect to get her way all the time and after a while this will probably make him crazy!
Dionne I just don’t know. Maybe he should have stayed with Jalisha. How can you say you love somebody but then your hesitant constantly about whether they “fit into your new world”? I honestly don’t know why Hassan accepts this. He’s not dumb. He clearly sees all the excuses she makes when it’s something to do with her “other world”. But he’s complacent just being invited to her Dad’s photo shot. It just goes to show how sometimes men can make themselves accept half-ass relationships and I think it’s just sad because I’ve seen it PERSONALLY. I just do not think Dionne is the right person for Hassan. But if the next book is ever written, I’d really want to see Dionne step up. She kinda did in *this* one but she tends to go back and forth from book to book.
Rating: 7
Starr gets bored and starts a singing group for the Pacesetters called the Go-Getters. She wants the fame just like her RNB singer parents. So, she makes Dionne the rapper and Marisol the choreographer. Only she turns into a control freak and starts trying to do it all herself. She fires Marisol because her steps aren’t enough, but she can’t do the routine Marisol teaches her. Then to top it all off Starr can’t sing. Neither Dionne nor Marisol know how to tell her. Until it all blows up and Starr gets mad because Eli (the new choreographer) wants Marisol to be in a new girl group (the lead singer) and shoot a video. After she calls Marisol a “video ho” she tells Starr the truth and storms out to go to a football came with her new boyfriend (Percy). Starr continues to live in the fantasy that she has skills, until one day she’s in the studio watching her mother record and her Dad hits playback and it’s Starr’s voice. Cole asks “Who the tone-deaf hell is that?” Rather than just walking away, the Go-Getters enter the school’s talent show with Dionne rapping (she *does* have skills) and Natalee singing (Natalee is the daughter of a friend of Sasha’s. She’s a white girl with a black soulful voice. She and Starr clash a lot because Starr’s jealous of her and doesn’t want her at Pace). Starr just lipsyncs. The Go-Getters win the first prize of 500.00 but Marisol gives it to a homeless shelter (not like any of em need it). Starr’s other concerns in Famous are the Diva of Dish and Jordan. She has the Diva of Dish’s blog taken down because she sends an anonymous link to the principal on an unflattering blog the Diva wrote about him. She and Jordan go back and forth throughout the whole book. Both liking each other but Starr still holding on to her stubbornness that Jordan wants something she’s not ready for (even though he tells her he hasn’t slept with Heather and Heather herself shows her that she’s not pregnant). As much as Starr protests, Jordan says he’s not giving up on her. By the end of the book, she has a new crush Kyle Hunter who shows up at the Thanksgiving dinner that all the TopStarr artists. She adds him to her Hot Boy list. Also, the ballad Starr wrote gets sold and the producer that did her tracks gets hired by TopStarr. So Starr’s talent was in writing (which was fine with her because that’s where the real money was)
Marisol starts to date football player (Percy). They go out several times to Cooley’s (the popular ice cream place hang out) and she goes to a few of his games. Alex isn’t happy with it, finds out, and forbids her from talking to him further. She sneaks and continues the relationship anyway. By the end of the book, she catches Percy after the talent show with another girl in Cooleys. By the end of the book, he’s still trying to call Marisol but she’s over him. It’s found out at a party after an interview for Yasmine for a popular Latina magazine that she’s pregnant. Marisol definitely is NOT happy with this, but hopes it’s at least a girl. Other than the drama with Starr, Marisol’s dancing impresses so much that he tells her about the audition for the girl group and the video. She auditions with hundreds of girls and gets the stop. Alex previously told her NO WAY but when she tells her parents on Thanksgiving, Yasmine says they’ll find out more about the group (video) and they’ll talk about it (and it’s assumed this means Marisol can do the video). Marisol learns from Alex that being famous means using your fame to benefit others so she spends Thanksgiving at a homeless shelter with the rest of the Riveras. She then gives the check to the shelter but turns down being on camera.
Dionne still isn’t being honest with her crew. She’s with Hassan now officially but she lets Starr believe it’s some random guy she’s crushing on when she’s called out in class for writing his name in her notebook. She also doesn’t invite Hassan to the Lester’s Halloween ball. She also doesn’t want her friends to see where she lives or meet her mother. Her mother and Grandmother have to give her a lecture on not being ashamed of where you live because it makes you who you are. We see some of the girl’s from her old school think she’s on “Oreo” when she goes out with Hassan because of how she talks and they think she dresses too over the top. She does discover she has skills like her father Lahron the Don, even though at first she has a problem writing her rap. But she KILLS IT at the talent show (making her Dad proud). She does finally introduce her Mom to her friends and she lets Hassan go to a photoshoot with her and her Dad. But we see she still isn’t ready to let him into her new world fully. There’s some drama about Risha being slow to pick a new house, but she finally picks the one in South Orange. Risha wants to give Dionne the master bedroom because the house will be hers, but her grandma says don’t even think about it. So Dionne says that after all Risha gave up for her she wants her to have the big bedroom. There’s also some drama about “The Don” marrying this porn star ish woman (Candyliscuxxx). He says he didn’t marry her but he’s with her pretty heavily through the book. Even so far as going to the Lester’s party with her and Dionne and forgetting he was supposed to be the other half of Dionne’s costume but instead being Candy’s My guess she’s just his plaything but we’ll never know as the third book never came out.
Natalie, I didn’t really write a lot about in my last review because I thought she was just a random character, but in the last book she shows up outside Starr’s door wanting to hang out. She’s the daughter of one of Sasha’s friends. Starr kind of is dismissive of her because she’s stylish and looks like she could be a threat to her popularity. She even goes so far as to tell her Pace Academy is a bad school filled with gangsters and drug dealers. It’s discovered she’s an amazing singer and Dionne and Marisol immediately ask her to be in the group, but Starr says HELL NO! Natalie later confronts Starr at the Halloween party and asks what her problem is with her. Starr tells her she doesn’t want to be forced to be friends with her. But seconds later she remembers her mom’s lecture and invites her to a sleepover. Marisol and Natalee bond at the party, dance, and have fun together. Natalee catches Cole’s attention as she sings for Marisol and Percy. But Natalee really doesn’t want to sing. (Even tho later she’s offered a chance to record a three-song demo). She does join the GoGetters to sing as a part of the group for the talent show. It’s unknown if she accepts and records the demo.
My Thoughts:
I KNEW this series reminded me of the Cheetah Girls for some reason! This one even more so than the first. And since a lot of my memory of these books has faded since the last time I read them maybe it was a subconscious thing. It’s all there from Starr’s over the top, control, issues wanting to run the group to Marisol being a dancer.
This one had a little less “fabulous” in detail but it had some good thoughts on what it means to be famous. Sasha showed you should do what you love not for the money and the fame, but for the heart and the passion you get from it.
Alex said that Yasmine taught him to use his fame to do things for others. Even though ironically the only thing he did for “others” was give himself to the random woman that he cheated with. Maybe as the mistress she got a little something on the side.
Yasmine though definitely proved she used *her* fame for good causes. And out of all the Pacesetters (GoGetters) again Marisol was the only one that showed any *real* substance by giving the check to and spending Thanksgiving at the shelter. But then if this is true, I wonder why Marisol is the one that gets done the worse in the series. But isn’t it always *just* like that in the real world?
Starr was even more ridiculous than the last book! She’s really never tried to sing before now around *anybody*? Now I know she’s attempted to sing one of her parents songs while at one of her sleepovers if one of their old videos came on. I just can not believe it took *this* long to find this out.
Even more so this thing with Jordan where she just refuses to believe he won’t push up on her for sex even after telling her he didn’t sleep with Heather. I mean well maybe (meaning he probably will *sometime* in the future. It’s a STRONG possibility). But that doesn’t mean she has to GIVE IN. But she’s probably scared that she WILL give in. And again if he looks like the other one well… let’s just say YES that’s WAY too much temptation.
But I found myself thinking Starr COME ON! You look CRAZY! You can’t fault him for what he didn’t do and what he may have done in the past. I wanna say that if this series had continued (and it’s a shame that it didn’t) she *would* have by the third book just given in. Although I do applaud the technique on one hand because it’s just making *him* more determined. So Starr gets a gold star for not making it easy. But I do want to see Starr and Jordan together. Although I really do hope Jordan reaches SUPERSTAR status because something tells me a relationship with this girl will be a constant CHALLENGE because she’ll expect to get her way all the time and after a while this will probably make him crazy!
Dionne I just don’t know. Maybe he should have stayed with Jalisha. How can you say you love somebody but then your hesitant constantly about whether they “fit into your new world”? I honestly don’t know why Hassan accepts this. He’s not dumb. He clearly sees all the excuses she makes when it’s something to do with her “other world”. But he’s complacent just being invited to her Dad’s photo shot. It just goes to show how sometimes men can make themselves accept half-ass relationships and I think it’s just sad because I’ve seen it PERSONALLY. I just do not think Dionne is the right person for Hassan. But if the next book is ever written, I’d really want to see Dionne step up. She kinda did in *this* one but she tends to go back and forth from book to book.
Rating: 7
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2010
Actually i got this one from NetGaley and i stopped after the 3rd chapter. Famous is something like Gossip Girl, but cheaper and not that interesting. The girls are all around 16 and from famous families, and they already are the power of the school. I found their personalities annoying and with too much money on their head. Like they only live for money nad nothing more. I guess that someone younger than me might like it better.
November 16, 2010
I love Gossip Girl and the rich and famous. I have an early review of this book which can be found at the URL below.
http://moiraethefatesbookreviews.blog...
http://moiraethefatesbookreviews.blog...
July 29, 2012
This isn't the kind of book that you take seriously. It was just for fun. It was a little superficial but I guess that was the point. I'm pretty sure I read it in between finding something else to read.
Read
March 11, 2017Miniseries: A Pace Academy Novel
August 4, 2011
For my review go to:
http://whatmorecanagirlaskfor.blogspo...
Tomiko :P
http://whatmorecanagirlaskfor.blogspo...
Tomiko :P
April 18, 2013
This book and the book Fabulous by Simone Bryant are amazing!! I cant wait for another sequel that i saw in her book that there will be!!!!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews