Uninvited

by Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers

South Hills Sidekicks Series, Book One

Book Description

When Alley started her senior year at Upper East High in the South Hills area, it was supposed to be the usual drag of hanging out with people who spent more on one outfit than Alley did on her entire wardrobe. That was until Kirsten, a girl in their clique, suddenly goes missing and the only people who seem to care are her friends. All evidence leads to the new comer Shane, a cocky and self-pretentious person in Alley’s opinion, but the police seem uninterested so she and the rest of the girls start a little investigation of their own. But they are nowhere closer to finding Kirsten than when they started and now they had the police’s attention; just not in the way they expected. The girls have to start over and discover that maybe it wasn’t an outsider who took Kirsten, but someone within their own clique who has something to hide; a secret that just might have gotten Kirsten killed.

MY THOUGHTS: 4 OUT OF 5 FLEURS DE LIS

Uninvited by Leah Spiegel

Alley is a senior and likes to talk about her group of friends: Val, Kirsten, Kayla, and Libby. Alley’s just so different from them all–they’re all rich, credit card carrying spoiled girls who can’t wait to plan the next big party, while Alley is the serious one of the group and her Dad barely spares her a glance. In reality, the group of friends is the closest thing she has to a family, which is why something must be done when Kirsten disappears.

I must say this book started off rather slow for me. I initially was annoyed by the shallow nature and ditziness of Alley’s friends, but as the book hit its’ stride it became obvious to me that these girls were the reason why the book was so funny.

The book started getting really funny when Val and the girls began taking the investigation so seriously. Val never does anything halfway, so if doing a stakeout means speaking to each other on walkie talkies (while they’re in the same car) and using night-vision goggles (during the day), then that’s what she’s going to do and the others just humor her.

Of course the book isn’t just about a group of friends; it has deeper undertones which came as a surprise to me. I have to say, the couple of twists that happened, I did not see coming at all.

As much as I liked watching Alley interact with her goofy group of friends, the exchanges between her and the new guy in school, Shane, were just as funny but also kind of hot. He doesn’t appreciate that the girls are so nosy, and when Alley and his friends inadvertently discover his secret, things just get more hilarious from there.

Although this was a finished copy I read, there were quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes–enough for me to notice and distract me from the reading a bit.

I liked the way the book ending and I was just a bit disappointed that it was set up for a book two–that means I have to wait to read it! But I definitely will–these girls are too much, just the thing I need to brighten a dreary day.
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About the Authors

Although we moved down to North Carolina several years ago, we’re originally from the Pittsburgh area. (That’s why a lot of our characters either live in the Burgh or reference our hometown football team, The Pittsburgh Steelers.) And yes, we even have the Southern accents to show for it now. Although Megan’s is considerable thicker, Leah still can’t understand the locals.

We are known as ‘the sisters’ among our neighborhood; when actually we’re probably really known as ‘the sisters with the Yorkies’. Our pups, Skippy Jon Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow, were given long names to compensate for their small size but not their large personalities.

If Leah’s not glued to her electronic devices, AKA her Kindle Fire and various laptops, you can find her training ‘the attack dogs’, running on the treadmill while conceiving the next great book idea with the Dave Matthews Band, Muse, Florence and the Machine, The Lumineers, and Pink (just to name a few) blaring out of her earphones.

If Megan’s not glued to her electronic devices AKA her iPad and Nook Color, you can find her teaching fourth graders, swimming marathon style at the pool, or cuddling with ‘the attack dogs’ as she watches Duck Dynasty, Gold Rush, Scandal, Person of Interest, Morning Joe, etc.

Leah graduated from Edinboro University with a BA in Art Education. Megan received her teaching degree from Edinboro University and Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Technology from Grand Canyon University.