MATES, DATES, AND SEQUIN SMILES
Cathy Hopkins
Simon Pulse
Fiction
ISBN: 0689867239
208 pages

The Mates, Dates series about four British friends rotates again to feature Nesta. Unfortunately, her friends seem to think she's all about makeup, clothes and boys. To top it off, she now has to wear braces! What's the good of worrying about image when it's ruined by metal tracks in her mouth anyway?

Nesta soon realizes that she's wrong about the limitations of braces. A new acting class that she and Izzie sign up for brings her into contact with Luke, and future meetings with him cause a hot connection to form. He doesn't care about her braces, and he's passionate about acting and film, making him a great match for her. A few catastrophic and humorous attempts to impress him with cooking and knowledge of films make her realize that Luke is interested in her for herself.

However, problems crop up when Nesta's formerly cool father forbids her to see Luke or anyone in his family again. She defies this and discovers that Luke's dad has a history with her own father --- a long and sad history. Nesta realizes that this is more important than anything that's going on in her own life, and she tries to help repair a wide breach between the two childhood friends.

Cathy Hopkins encourages readers to look for the value behind seemingly shallow people, or possibly books! The Mates, Dates series is good fun, and this installment is sure to be a hit with fans.

   --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

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