Besides the words vegan and virgin , overachiever also describes Mara Valentine. A straight-A senior who has been accepted by Yale, Mara is trying to beat out her ex-boyfriend for another v -word, valedictorian . Then, into her well-ordered life flies her same-age niece, Vivian, known as V. V is living with the family because her mom, Mara's much older sister, is trying to find herself yet again. V is the anti-Mara, a smoking, drinking loser with a fondness for the F- word. Wisely, Mackler does not frame this as the story of opposites trying to get along. In fact, with a little love from her grandparents and a part in the school play, V turns herself around with unbelievable ease. She is, however, a catalyst for Mara to examine her own behavior, and this is where the book rings true. In a knowing first-person voice, Mara explores her tightly woven relationship with her parents, the pressure she puts on herself to get ahead, and the growing feeling she has for an older guy. By the book's conclusion Mara is no longer a virgin or a vegan, but her transformation has been entirely credible and, for readers anyway, thoroughly enjoyable.

Seventeen-year-old Mara, a classic overachiever, has her life shaken up when her wild sixteen-year-old niece moves in. Vivienne, known as V, is Mara's exact opposite, and the two butt heads over everything. Eventually, Mara loosens up a bit and V gains some stability and self-esteem in this fast-paced, often humorous novel.

Warmth and humor suffuse the story of Mara's senior-year transformation from tense, rigid perfectionist to relaxed, centered graduate. Mara has perfect grades, perfect extracurriculars, and a perfectly planned-out future including a ticket to Yale. Then her one-year-younger niece, V (daughter of Mara's much-older sister), comes to live with her and wreaks havoc. V wears a brazen tank top (braless) to school and immediately makes out with Mara's jerky ex-boyfriend. Graffiti appears around school calling V "stonah babe" and "skanky ho." Meanwhile, Mara is falling in love with the 22-year-old owner of the coffee shop where she works and dreaming at night about grilled cheese, which she hasn't eaten since becoming a vegan. Sparring, not friends till the end, Mara learns from V how to enjoy herself and V learns from Mara that it's okay to strive and care. In the last scene, newly independent Mara triumphantly throws her cell phone (parental umbilical cord) into Lake Ontario. Funny and optimistic. (Fiction. YA)

Mackler's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things) latest tale starring a strong female protagonist centers on Mara Valentine, who is headed to Yale and vying with her ex-boyfriend, Travis Hart, for valedictorian. Enter wild niece V, who is only a year younger (the daughter of Mara's sister, who is nearly 20 years older) and who moves in with Mara's family. The two get off to a bad start when V hooks up with Travis, and Mara gets worked up over V's gross habits and pot smoking. But the young women stick up for each other in unexpected moments, too (such as when Mara crosses out some nasty graffiti about V). The plotting here follows a familiar path: when Mara falls in love with James, the 22-year-0ld owner of the café where she works, she sees there is more to life than grades, while V, finally in a stable environment, begins to fulfill her "unrealized potential" by landing a part in the school play. While some readers may identify more with rebellious V than with Mara ("You sure are wound tight," V says to Mara), the two characters begin to deepen and mature through the course of the novel, and the audience may well warm up to Mara. There are some hilarious moments here, too; Mara, for example, who became vegan in order to stop obsessing over her ex, dreams of cheese and wakes up with lips that "tasted salty." Readers won't find anything groundbreaking here, but they will likely be entertained along the way. Ages 14-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Aug.)

Gr 8 Up-Overachieving high school senior Mara Valentine's drive stems from the belief that she is her parents' "Only Hope"; her 35-year-old sister has achieved nothing but having a daughter, V, who is only a year younger than Mara and appears to be a "nicotine-addicted nympho." Sport for Mara is competing with her ex-boyfriend for class valedictorian; she has been accepted early decision to Yale. Mara is a sharp, interesting narrator, but she has alienated most of her friends with her rigid, single-minded attitudes. Her life is thrown into chaos when V comes to live with the family, and provides multiple shades of gray in Mara's black-and-white world. She makes out with Mara's ex on the first day of school and constantly makes cutting, but frighteningly accurate, comments about the limitations of her aunt's life plans. In the midst of this chaos, while working part-time at a local cafe, Mara falls in love with her 22-year-old boss who hasn't gone to college and is forced to reassess the goals that V has already called into question. The romance is believable, as is the tension between Mara and V, although both situations resolve smoothly and somewhat quickly. This is a fast, often humorous read with some meat but no bite (although Mara does lose her virginity)-just the universal theme of growing up and figuring out what's important. This title will have strong appeal for teens grappling with these same questions.-Karyn N. Silverman, New York Public Library Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.