The It Girl (novel)
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| Author | Cecily von Ziegesar |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The It Girl |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
| Released | 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) & AudioBook (MP3 CD) |
| Pages | 272 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0316011853 |
| Followed by | Notorious |
This article is about the 2005 book. For the slang phrase, see It girl.
The It Girl is a 2005 book by Cecily von Ziegesar, the first in The It Girl series. The series branches off from her first series Gossip Girl and features young Jenny Humphrey from that series as the protagonist.
Jenny Humphrey has been expelled from Constance Billard in the eighth book. In this series, she starts Waverly academy, an elite boarding school in New York horse country filled of glamorous rich kids. She aims to be the most sophisticated and most popular girl, partying every night and winning every boy there. Like the Gossip Girl series, there is a break between every chapter with a "narrative" from less prominent characters. In this series, the characters use email and instant messaging to gossip and spread rumors about the main characters, Jenny, Tinsley, Callie and Brett.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
[edit] Major
- Jenny Humphrey
- Jenny Humphrey, a favorite from the Gossip Girl series, here stars in a series of her own. After being kicked out of Constance Billard, Jenny enrolls at the posh Waverly Academy located in New York state. Jenny hopes to leave her old, unsophisticated, embarrassing past behind and become the it girl of Waverly. She soon rises to become the rival of previous "It girl", Tinsley Carmichael, and falls for Easy Walsh, the (now ex-)boyfriend of one of her roommates, Callie Vernon.
- Tinsley Carmichael
- Before Jenny's arrival, Tinsley was kicked out of school when she and her best friends, Brett Messerschmidt and Callie Vernon were caught doing Ecstasy and the three of them had a miscommunication that caused Tinsley to take the fall. She returns in Notorious to cause waves for her friends, who are both happy and afraid to have her back, and Jenny Humphrey, who seems to be trying to take her place. She eventually has a falling out with Brett due to Eric Dalton, their handsome Disciplinary Advisor.
- Callie Vernon
- Callie, who was one of Tinsley Carmichael's and Brett Messerschmidt's best friends and is girlfriend to Easy Walsh, is a popular blonde girl who rooms with Jenny at Waverly. When Easy is caught in her room, where she'd invited him so they could have sex, Callie blames the whole thing on Jenny, then convinces Jenny and Easy to flirt with each other to make her story more believable. The plan backfires on her when Easy eventually dumps her for Jenny, leaving Callie heartbroken and ready for revenge. She eventually forms an alliance with Tinsley against Brett and Jenny, but things go awry when, as punishment for hosting a party off of school grounds, Callie and Jenny are the only girls in Dumbarton 303, and Brett and Tinsley are forced to become roommates.
- Brett Messerschmidt
- Hails from Rumson, New Jersey but tells everyone that she's from East Hampton and is afraid for everyone to know the real truth about her. Everyone is led to believe that she lives in East Hampton and that her parents are constantly throwing charity functions, while in truth her father is the most prominent plastic surgeon in the tri-state area (best known for bragging about how much fat he could get off a patient during a lipo) and her mother who is obsessed with zebra prints on everything, and consuming only truffles and zoloft. No ones knows this except for Tinsley who once answered Brett's phone and had a lengthy conversation with Brett's mother about zebra prints. Thus Brett is somewhat relieved that Tinsley is not there to expose her secret. Brett, Tinsley Carmichael's other best friend and Jenny Humphrey's other roommate, was dating Jeremiah Mortimer, but dumped him for the very sexy, twenty-three year old teacher, Eric Dalton. Brett then went back to Jeremiah after Eric dumped her for Tinsley and, with the help of Easy Walsh, brought Eric down on charges of drug possession and had him fired from Waverly. The red-headed beauty eventually begins to come to terms with her nouveau riche parents, and their "embarrassing" lifestyle.Brett also lies about being a virgin to everyone including Jeremiah , who is too but thinks that Brett lost it to some Swiss guy. She tells him when they are about to have sex and he is understanding. But then before they do it they are interrupted by a friend of Jeremiah's from his school and Brandon Buchanan. During a game of " I never" Yvonne Stidder says the dreaded "I've never had sex before". This is when Brett finds out that Jeremiah had sex with his female friend from school after Brett broke up with him as a way to cope with the pain. The game also causes problems for other characters including Jenny, Callie, Tinsley, and Easy.
- Easy Walsh
- Despite the fact that he is a legacy at Waverly, there is nothing Easy wants more than to get out of school. The only thing keeping him at Waverly is his parents' promise of letting him go to Paris when he graduates. He has helped Brett create a plan to have Eric fired before Eric gets him expelled. Originally the boyfriend of Callie Vernon, whom he stole from fellow Waverly Owl, Brandon Buchanan, Easy develops feelings for Jenny Humphrey and eventually leaves Callie for her. He loves horses and art and has a thick Kentucky accent. Confused about who he actually loves more, he inadvertently cheats on his then girlfriend Jenny with previous girlfriend Callie causing himself to end up with neither of the two.
[edit] Minor
- Brandon Buchanan
- Brandon was a loyal and dedicated boyfriend to Callie Vernon, but she cheated on him with, and eventually left him for, Easy Walsh. Brandon never got over Callie and is still willing to do anything for her. He had a thing for Jenny Humphrey, but she, too, was interested in Easy, so Brandon decided to stick with being her friend and only having eyes for Callie, who has yet to show any real interest in getting back together.In book three Brandon ends up kissing a friend of Jeremiah's in an underground tunnel beneath Waverly.
- Eric Dalton
- One of the famous "Daltons", Eric flirts with Brett Messerschmidt and then carries on an affair with her, which ended when he was snagged by Tinsley Carmichael instead. Brett, wanting to save her reputation, then took him down on charges of drug possession and he was fired. He is very wealthy and was also a legacy at Waverly.
- Heath Ferro
- Nicknamed Pony because everyone's taken a ride, Heath Ferro is the biggest man-slut at Waverly. He drunkenly made out with Jenny on her first day at Waverly, then fell asleep in her lap. He also doesn't hesitate to gossip about her when she isn't around. He's also a favorite of Tinsley Carmichael because of their similar natures. He can be associated with Chuck from the Gossip Girl series, because of their willingness to have sex with anyone.
- Rufus Humphrey
- Jenny's hippie beatnik father, Rufus lives in New York in a run down apartment with their cat, Marx, and Dan's on-again-off-again girlfriend Vanessa, who is taking film at NYU. Jenny's brother Daniel Humphrey used to live there too, but he has gone off to college.
- Dean Marymount
- Dean Marymount is the Dean of Waverly who is a stickler for rules. However, this doesn't stop him from having an affair with one of his fellow, married teachers, Angela Pardee, whose husband also is a member of the Waverly staff. The two are caught by Tinsley Carmichael and Callie Vernon.
- Alison Quentin
- A member of TInsley Carmicheals exclusive girl's club, Cafe Society, Alison is described by Easy Walsh as "An Asian version of Audrey Hepburn." She is in Easy and Jenny's portraiture class, and is friendly to Jenny, but is not of any significance to her. Alan St. Girard has a huge crush on Alison.
- Benny Cunningham
- A horsey looking girl, Benny is a friend of Tinsley, Callie, and Brett. She is supposedly a prude, but in te famous game of I Never, it is discovered that she has had sex before. She has hookede up with Heath Ferro, and is always looking for gossip.
- Yvonne Stidder
- A saxophone player, and member of the Jazz Band, Yvonne is the first girl Jenny meets at Waverly. At the lock down party in Dumbarton, she wears Tinsley's dress. In the game of I Never, she says that she's never had sex before, which starts most of the drama.
- Kara Whelan
- A quiet girl who only wears black and who's mom is a fashion designer. Tinsley hides Heath's beer under Kara's bed before the lockdown. Kara, who Heath nickname "The Whale" the year before, had left Waverly early last year because of him, and when he tries to hit on her at the party, she throws beer in his face, resulting in him wearing a girl's shirt to the rest of the party.
[edit] External links
| The books of Cecily von Ziegesar |
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| Gossip Girl • The It Girl |
| Gossip Girl books |
| Gossip Girl • You Know You Love Me • All I Want is Everything • Because I'm Worth It • I Like It Like That • You're the One That I Want • Nobody Does It Better • Nothing Can Keep Us Together • Only in Your Dreams • Would I Lie to You? • Don't You Forget About Me |
| The It Girl books |
| The It Girl • Notorious • Reckless • Unforgettable |
