The Elite
Jennifer Banash
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Pages: 256

Rating: 4.5 stars

From the top, you can see everything – except yourself.

When Casey McCloy steps into the elegant Bramford building, she’s overwhelmed. Fresh from the Midwest, she’s moved to New York’s Upper East Side to live with her grandmother and attend the prestigious Meadowlark Academy. Here all that matters is who you know. The girl to know is Madison Macallister: popular, pretty, platinum blond. She’s not just Casey’s new classmate and neighbor; she’s an icon. So Casey aims to get in with Madison and her gorgeous gal-pals from the start. As the reigning queen of coolness, Madison is capable of destroying reputations with one well timed whisper. Better to be on her good side.

But after a city-haute makeover from her new frenemy Madison, Casey is wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and meeting the right people,including Drew, the boy-about-town who Madison thinks belongs to her and her alone.

I really enjoyed reading The Elite by Jennifer Banash. It was a lighter read full of drama from the top of the social ladder Upper East Side teen girls. The drama wasn’t the over the top and exagerated drama that you see so much of these days, which was certainly entertaining. I loved the alternating chapters between the 5 main characters, reading the story from all the different characters added so much depth and you get to hear their side. Jennifer Banash‘s writing style really draws readers in as well. I found myself having a hard time putting this one down!