BRAND X

Pressured into a high school for math and science whizzes, the left-brained Jordie Popkin is finally allowed to show off her creative side when she’s placed in her junior year internship at the zany advertising agency, Out of the Box. At first, Jordie is skeptical, and her science-minded mother is furious, but Jordie soon realizes that there’s a lot to learn from her zany bosses, especially about marketing herself to her crush, Vaughn. Within her first few work days, Jordie becomes the office’s pet project as they launch into a humorous, but far-fetched love campaign, which includes push-up bras and pizza. However, despite all the attention dedicated to Jordie’s love interest and the marketing principles behind her tactics, there is little development of Jordie or her classmates’ personalities. For example, there is far more description of what Jordie isn’t, in this case a science geek, and less natural demonstration of her true self, except for occasional bright flashes of creativity that are too few and far between. Full of potential, but underdeveloped. (Fiction. YA)