Because I'm Worth It - Cecily von Ziegesar

Because I’m Worth It
Gossip Girl #4
Cecily von Ziegesar
Little, Brown and Company

Young Adult (ages 15 and up)

Note: If you haven’t read the first books in the series, this review contains plot spoilers.

There’s no such thing as a dreary February for the posh teens of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The best way to combat the weather? Great clothes and a huge party. Blair Waldorf could use some cheer right about now. Her mother, recently married to a red-faced embarrassment of a man, is proudly pregnant. Lucky for Blair, something nice is about to happen. It seems her dad, who now lives in France with his “life partner” came through in a big way. After Blair had a meltdown of thermonuclear proportions in her Yale entrance interview, dad managed to get her a sort of second-chance interview. And the interviewer? Hot.

In other developments, Vanessa’s career as a filmmaker and Dan’s career as a poet are both taking off. Will it bind them together, or tear them apart? Jenny has a new and very interesting friend. The ever-smarmy Chuck appears to be taking his life in a whole different direction. Serena’s life is full of amazingly unexpected things, as always. And poor Nate loses the most important person in his life: his pot dealer. With Valentine’s Day, Fashion Week, and college trauma, at least life is never boring.

Gossip Girl, whose identity is still a mystery, fills in readers on all these details and more in this installment of the hugely popular series. Any teenager (and anyone who can remember being a teenager) will recognize a bit of herself in these books. Probably best not to recognize too much, though. Recommended for a fast, fun read.

Rating: 7 ½
October 2003 (also available in 3-volume box set)
ISBN# 0-316-90968-8 (trade paperback)