The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Have you ever wondered what Carrie Bradshaw was like in high school? Candace Bushnell is betting that if you're a fan of Sex and the City, you have, and here is the book for you! The Carrie Diaries follows aspiring writer Carrie Bradshaw through her last year of high school - figuring out relationships with her friends, dealing with the attentions of a mysterious bad boy, wondering if she's going to be a virgin forever. The story ends with her making contact with someone who will be very big in the rest of her life - leaving me wondering if there might be a followup that focuses on Carrie Bradshaw: The Early 20s.

I'm not the most die-hard Sex and the City fan, but I've definitely seen the series (and the first movie), and I have a fairly good working knowledge of the show. There wasn't a lot of continuity between the book and the show in terms of the characters; most of what was there focused on the big stuff in Carrie's life - she wants to be a writer, she dreams of living in New York. At times it was hard to care about any of the other characters because I knew that by the time the series started, they were no longer important figures in Carrie's life in any way (including her family). I don't think that it added any insight into Carrie the character (she seemed sort of Mary Sue-ish at times), and most of the points of dramatic irony got tired ("Isn't it funny that the future sex columnist is a virgin?"). I think that this is best left for die-hard SATC fans; there are lots of other great options for people looking for a great YA novel.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Boys, Girls, and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman
L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han