The Carrie Diaries

Synopsis
Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation?

The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie's senior year of high school. She and her best friends -- Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse -- are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it's finally time to go after everything she ever wanted.

Rabid fans of Sex and the City will love seeing Carrie Bradshaw evolve from a regular girl into a sharp, insightful writer. They'll learn about her family background -- how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. We'll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where the next Carrie Diaries book will take place.

Publishers Weekly
This polished prequel to Sex and the City reveals the ample drama that filled Carrie Bradshaw’s life before her move to Manhattan. With wit and insight, Carrie chronicles her emotionally charged senior year at a small Connecticut high school. While her friends’ lives seem to be falling into place—especially on the dating and sex fronts—Carrie has just been rejected by a summer writing seminar in New York City, and laments, “I have nothing figured out at all.” She falls hard for a slick underachiever who eventually leaves her for one of her best friends, while her widower father grapples with single parenthood, made tougher by Carrie’s rebellious youngest sister’s antics. Readers should be amused by some of the period details (Carrie’s 18-year-old friends can drink legally), though they don’t weigh heavily on the story, making the early 1980s setting feel almost incidental. Similarly, there’s little that shouts, “This is the Carrie Bradshaw you know and love,” as opposed to any other thoughtful teenager slowly coming into her own. But readers should enjoy witnessing Carrie’s burgeoning independence and confidence as a writer. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

As a super fan of SATC, I will be reading this. Big shock to those of you that know me, I'm sure. I was thinking I might actually download the mp3 and listen to it on the way to Tulsa or Dallas - which I've got coming up soon. I will of course be buying the book, because be honest - even if the book isn't that great, the cover looks pretty awesome.