Haters
by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

    HATERS by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  10/4/06
    Publisher:  Little, Brown
    Reviewed by:  Jocelyn Pearce
    Rating:  4 Stars


    HATERS is the first young adult book by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, but anyone who reads this book (myself included)
    is sure to hope it's not her last! In the novel, readers are introduced to Paski (her full name is Pasquala Rumalda
    Quintana de Archuleta, but that's way too much of a mouthful). She's a New Mexico teenager who, because of her
    father's new job, moves to Orange County, California. Yeah, the O.C. And it seems a lot like the television show.
    Paski misses the mountains around her old home of Taos (she's a mountain biker), her psychic grandmother (whose
    talents she has inherited), her best friends, and tons more, but maybe the O.C. isn't so bad. After all, there's super-hot
    Chris Cabrera! It's not like Paski is a social leper, either. She quickly makes friends with Tina, a girl who has a slight
    obsession with anthropology.

    Things aren't all fun and games, though. At her new school, Aliso Niguel High, certain things are very important. Looks
    and money, for the most part. And gorgeous, rich (and evil) Jessica Nguyen has both. She and her friends (some of
    the Haters the book is named for), confident as they may seem in their place at the top, are a little threatened by Paski,
    who is just as pretty as they are. At first, they're able to dismiss her as just an "apartment girl," but then they find out
    her dad is going to be really well paid for the movie (about a superhero named Squeegee Man) that he's animating.
    Apparently, Paski has what it takes to get to the top. But with the Haters there, is that where she wants to be?

    HATERS was an entertaining, fun read that kept be hooked up until the very last word! Maybe it's not a hugely
    original idea--there are tons of young adult books about rich, popular teenagers in California. Or Florida. But this is
    more than that. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez tells the story in Paski's fresh, original voice that will have readers craving
    more. I hope there's more about Paski in the future, or at least more young adult fiction from Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
    in general, and anyone who reads this book will most definitely feel the same!