Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar

This book is basically following the gossip of the privileged, beautiful, and filthy rich teens. While many novels have a one-person view of their story, this one allows you to understand each character's thoughts. Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side, where teenagers have unlimited access to money and whatever else they could ask. This book begins when the girl everyone loved to hate, Serena van der Woodsen is back from boarding school. Everyone claims she was kicked out. Blair Waldorf and Serena were best friends until Blair knew what it was like to be in the light Serena used to take up. Blair's mother, Eleanor Waldorf, and her soon to be step-father, Cyrus Rose, threw a dinner party when Blair met the her nightmare. This was the first time Blair had seen Serena in two years. Blair knows that if Serena is around Nate, her boyfriend, she'll end up stealing his heart. The rest of the book follows Blair's parties and new gossip heard over Serena. Blair is on the organizing committee for the Kiss on the Lips party, when she can't seem to find someone to print the invitations. Jenny Humphrey agrees to make them if she can have invitations for herself and her brother, Dan. Serena tries to straighten up her life by doing more extracurricular classes at Constance school for girls. She decides she might join the Interschool Drama Club where they are doing a modern version of Gone With The Wind. She later blows that off and joins another drama group. A girl named Vanessa Abram is the director of her version of War and Peace. Serena was the best person for the part Natasha, but Vanessa doesn't want Dan, as Prince Andrei, to swoon over Serena during the play. Jenny finally convinces her brother to take her to the Kiss on the Lips party. Serena blew off the party and called Vanessa to see if she would help her make her own movie. Vanessa agrees to help and invites Serena to a bar called The Five and Dime where her sister's band would be playing. Dan, Serena, and Vanessa are having a good time when Dan gets a call from Jenny. Chuck Bass was very close to mauling Jenny until Dan and Serena saved her. Dan took Jenny home and drove back to The Five and Dime to pick up Vanessa. In the end, Blair was able to permanently avoid Serena. Vanessa got over her huge crush on Dan for a guy she met at The Five and Dime. Dan finally got what he wanted the entire time, to call Serena his own.

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