Like the Red Panda (Harvest Book)
Like the Red Pandais debut author Andrea Seigel's brutal answer to the throngs of Chick Lit novels that have inundated book clubs and influenced the big screen over the past decade. Stella Parrish, Seigel's tragic heroine, is 17, extremely wise beyond her years, completely alienated from her peers and her foster family, and determined to kill herself before she arrives at Princeton's gates in the fall. Seigel's task here is difficult--she's created a character of extraordinary depth, given her an unpleasant (at best) mission, and attempted to make her amusing and interesting, all at the same time.  In many ways, the author's success should be widely applauded, even if she falls short on occasion.Like the Red Pandaenjoys its greatest success when Stella is commenting on the people around her. Her wry observations about her cranky old grandfather, her pot-smoking classmates in AP English, and her brilliant, unmotivated drug-dealing ex-boyfriend paint an equally amusing and insightful portrait of suburban life in America. When describing the temple-going practices of her jumpy and awkward foster parents, Stella explains that services are held on Sunday morning instead of Saturday, "mostly so everyone could be on the same worship schedule as their Christian friends. This benefited cross-religion plan-making on the weekends." When Seigel strays from witty observations like these, the novel has a tendency to lose its quirky appeal and simply becomes a tale of disenchanted youth. Thankfully,Like the Red Pandadelivers more laughs than tears, and rewards readers with a unique blend of one-part teenage angst mixed with two-parts comedic wit.--Gisele Toueg