GCC: Golden, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Stupid Marriott Marquis and their stupid lack of internet access. I’m so far behind on my blogging.

Ahem, today, we are touring debut author Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Her book, Golden, is about a girl who can see auras.

At Emory High, there are two kinds of people: those who matter, and those who don’t.

When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she finds herself in the middle of a teenage nightmare: a social scene to rival a Hollywood movie. And if understanding the hierarchy of the Goldens vs. the Nons isn’t hard enough, Lissy’s ever growing Aura Vision is getting harder and harder to hide, and if she’s not careful, she’s going to become a Non faster than you can say “freak.”

But it’s becoming clear that Emory High has a few secrets of its own. Around the halls, the term “special powers” goes way beyond one’s ability to attract the opposite sex, and there may be something more evil than the A-crowd lurking in the classrooms. Lissy can see a lot more than the average girl, but she’s about to learn the hard way that things aren’t always as they appear and you can’t always judge a girl by her lip gloss.

Jennifer also just graduated from Yale. In fact, she wrote Golden when she was 19 years old and a freshman. Now, those of you who have read Secret Society Girl will recall Amy’s own literary dabblings, but this chick Jen not only finished a novel, but she also got an agent, sold it, and proceeded to sell several more before she graduated. All while doing intensive research in cognitive science, publishing papers, and winning a Fulbright. Wow. (Those of you who have read SSG will remember that Amy’s college boyfriend left her when he won a Fulbright, but Jennifer, I’m sure, would never have been so heartless.)

In short, she’s totally the type who’d be inducted into Rose & Grave.