My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman

From the Publisher

With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade.

Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamor for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel.

Publishers Weekly

It's bad enough that Roz's older sister, Eva, dumped her as a best friend; on top of that, Roz is in love with Eva's boyfriend, Bryan. But Roz begins to suspect that perfect “Eva the Diva” might be a lesbian, so she pretends she is a lesbian and reports back to Eva about what it's like to come out, hence Roz's “invented” life. (Roz comes out in response to a dare on Eva's part, though her decision never feels entirely believable. Is this an attempt to get back in her sister's good graces? A snap action born out of anger?) However, what begins as a lie soon turns into a genuinely eye-opening experience. Bjorkman sets her debut amid the high school theater crowd, peppering Roz's internal narration with imagined scenarios and Shakespearean humor, evoking all the drama inherent in putting on a play. Roz's voice is witty and genuine as she moves through the ups and downs of coming out (and eventually coming clean). Evocative of Boy Meets Boy and Dramarama, this makes for fun, thought-provoking reading. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)

Kirkus Reviews

A high-school production of As You Like It forms the backdrop for this romantic comedy that echoes the farce of Shakespeare's play in an energetic but ultimately strained tale of two sisters and their friends. When Roz's older sister Eva begins to freeze her out, Roz suspects that it may be because she is trying to conceal her lesbianism from her. For reasons that are never entirely convincing, Roz decides to fake that she herself is gay and "comes out" to people at school, describing her experiences to Eva in a synopsis she terms "The Lesbian Report." Bjorkman's speedy pacing and Roz's frenetic first-person voice may initially draw readers in, but the narrative is occasionally confusing. Witty turns of phrase are plentiful but sometimes fall flat: "After a night of patchy sleep, my eyelids feel as squishy as overripe apricots." Still, the lighthearted treatment of sexuality is intriguing, and this may well find an audience among teen drama geeks with a taste for Shakespearean insults. (Fiction. 13 & up)

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