The Vinyl Princess
by Yvonne Prinz

    THE VINYL PRINCESS by Yvonne Prinz
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  12/22/09
    Publisher:  HarperTeen
    Reviewed by:  Cat
    Rating:  5 Stars


    How does a self-proclaimed music geek with encyclopedic knowledge of vinyl's history survive in an MP3
    obsessed, Billboard Top 40 world? If you're sixteen-year-old Allie, you spend every free moment "practically
    running" Bob & Bob's Records, comb the flea markets of Berkeley for classic LPs, while composing articles for
    your blog and zine.

    Not that any of this means Allie's without a life - thank you very much. She spends plenty of time patronizing the
    bohemian eateries and coffeehouses populating downtown San Francisco, hanging with best friend and vintage
    fashion maven Kit, and keeping an eye on her scatterbrained mother as she reenters the dating scene.

    Should Allie let her mother's personality-transplant-for-a-boyfriend, or twenty-something stepmother Kee-Kee's
    pregnancy, send her into a tailspin? Of course not!

    Who cares if Bob & Bob's owner keeps threatening to sell the store? He's been saying that for years.

    And why worry too much about a series of robberies plaguing businesses along Telegraph Avenue? With regulars
    like Allie keeping their eyes peeled for anyone suspicious, the police will catch the thieves sooner or later.

    So what if Allie hasn't found a boyfriend of her own? Sure, she's got her eye on the mystery hottie "M" who's
    recently become a customer, but it's not like she expects to stumble across her musical soul mate at work...right?

    I *LOVED* this book with a blinding passion!  Everything from Allie herself, to her eccentric family and kooky
    coworkers, the descriptions of food, the plethora of music history and the way Yvonne Prinz infuses the city of San
    Francisco with so much life and vivacity, it becomes a character in and of itself. Even though I'm an iPod devotee, I
    got a kick out of Allie's references to MP3s and downloading as "the end of civilization as we know it."

    THE VINYL PRINCESS is hip, blunt, quirky, and just plain fabulous - if books were people, I'd marry this one.
    Seriously guys, this is one you shouldn't miss.