3 novels for tween and teen girls

Tea might have been inspired by interviews with young women for her 2004 anthology, "Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache," when she started on the characters in "Mermaid." Sophie's best friend, Ella, is germ-phobic and obsessed with food, "tripping out about what the animal on her plate might have eaten in life -- had it eaten poison? Bugs? Had it eaten the poop of other animals?" Ella scrubs her skin to wash away imagined filth, using household cleanser so strong she opens herself to real infection. Her aversion, however, does not extend to cigarettes -- a contradiction that Sophie points out to her constantly. Tea describes in fearsome detail the girls' attraction to playing "the passing out game": "the world of the dream state was so much nicer, prettier and more magical than the city they spent their days in."

Sophie begins to have visions of a mermaid during her passing-out sessions. There are increasing signs of the supernatural around her. When pigeons start speaking to her, Sophie learns that a magical world has been expecting her: She is the one destined to fulfill a prophecy, and it will be her mission to rescue humanity. Sophie's magical education begins in this first volume of a projected trilogy. So far, in Tea's appealing blend of magic and gritty reality, reality has a more powerful presence; perhaps that balance will shift as the series develops.

After many, many sumptuous descriptions of fabulous rooms and digs at the rich and famous -- surely your own favorite celebs will be lampooned here -- the story suddenly focuses, as aimless celebrity worship will do, under the gravitational pull of royalty. Rudnick so artfully reproduces the full-throated hunting cry of fandom that the reader can almost hear squeals and shrieks of "After him!" the moment a British prince enters the picture.

As a playwright and screenwriter, Rudnick excels at witty scene-writing. After fleeing her own wedding, thereby abandoning Rebecca status, Becky uses her intimate knowledge of the wealthy to become a supercompetent assistant concierge at an exclusive New York hotel. Inevitably, she finds herself professionally welcoming her old rival for the prince's affections, and Rudnick knows how to make the fur fly in a catfight.

It's all so much fun that the reader has to forgive the author his few bloviations about love. After all, how else could he have written his way through to the fairy-tale ending the fans deserve?