The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy

Jess Parker has moved around from high school to high school and town to town her entire life. Now settled down in her mother's hometown for good she is having a hard time fitting in after having been an outsider for so long, until she is invited to join a secret society called The Cinderella Society. Now she is involved in a fued between the Cindy's and the Wicked's and she's not sure she isn't in over her head.

There is so much more going on in this book then meets the eye, and I don't just mean plot wise. This book is probably one of the greatest girl power, to thine own self be true type books I have ever read, without being preachy about it. I felt very girl power reading it and using a left over flyer from the local roller derby team, the Long Island Roller Rebels. The Cinderella Society is all about learning to be yourself, how to be comfortable in your own skin and knowing your strenghts and weaknesses. They call all this a makeover but truthfully I almost felt like it was misnamed because it's not about changing yourself but being your best you if that makes sense.

The Cindy's are all about balance and everyone getting their fair say, while thier counterparts, the Wickeds are all about gaining power over others. Evverything doesn't fall right into place once Jess enters the secret society; she continues to make mistakes and grow and spends a lot of time thinking about how to handle things when her opinions differ from the Cindy's. All in all I really enjoyed it and hate that I need to wait until next summer to find out what happens next. I do have one little gripe though; the author put a ton of pop culture references in the text such as current movies and music. While right now this isn't an issue, I think the book is good enough to stay popular for a long time, but the cultural references may date the book and turn kids off later. I hope I am wrong though cause it is a really great read.