Only In Your Dreams - Cecily von Ziegesar

Only In Your Dreams
Gossip Girl #9
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.

It’s summertime in Manhattan, but the living isn’t exactly easy for the just-graduated seniors. This will be their last summer to play and party together, but somehow, things aren’t working out quite the way anyone planned. Blair starts her summer in England, visiting the young Lord she met just before school ended. Like another Prince we might mention, this Lord has his own Camilla. But Blair is nothing if not resourceful. Serena is all set to star in a major movie, but she’s finding out that acting is a lot more work than she thought it would be. The director of the movie hires Vanessa to do the photography. Like her indie vision is really going to mesh with a big-budged romantic comedy.

Meanwhile, out in the Hamptons, Nate feels isolated. Probably because he is. He’s spending the summer doing hard manual labor on his coach’s house in order to make up for stealing the coach’s prescription for a certain little blue pill. The same crime that resulted in Nate’s diploma being withheld at graduation. In true Nate style, he manages to hook up with a townie. Called Tawny. No, really. And, back in the big, bad city, Dan gets a job at The Strand, a famous bookstore. He also gets a bit of a wandering eye, and ends up with a health nut. Anyone else see a problem with that?

Even though school is out, everyone who’s anyone is in Manhattan for the summer. There are some interesting developments on the movie set. Blair changes her direction in life. Again. Vanessa and Dan are both trying to work out their relationship and their own lives, which isn’t so easy with college staring you in the face. It’s obvious that everyone is trying to make the most of the summer, and they’re doing a pretty good job of it.

Rating: 8
May 2006
ISBN# 0-316-01182-7 (trade paperback)