Talent, by Zoey Dean
Dean, Zoey (2008). Talent. NY: Razorbill. 208 pages.
Zoey Dean, the name attributed to the Alloy series “The A-List,” is responsible for a new A-list-esque series for younger girls called “Talent” of which Talent is book one. Just as “The A-List” was really a West Coast version of “Gossip Girl,” “Talent” is a West Coast version of “The Clique.” The novels revolve around Mac, the daughter of a famous Hollywood talent agent; her friends Coco (an up-and-coming singer/dancer and daughter of a Madonna-like character) and Becks (a surfer with a dad known for the prank TV shows he produced when he was young); and Emily, a tourist from Iowa Mac recruits to manage as an actress. Like “The Clique,” “Talent” features a queen bee with a name beginning with “M,” and an out-of-town girl in desperate need of style and social advice. Unlike “The Clique,” however, “Talent” does not seem as wrapped up in the queen bee behaviors of its protagonists, opting instead to address the issue of each character’s unique “talent.”
In the first volume of the series, Mac worries that, unlike her famous family, she has no unique or special talents to make her stand out from the crowd and, more importantly, will help her clinch the vote for her school’s social chair position. When Mac decides to try her hand at talent management, she discovers that she’s actually pretty good at it, a fact the readers of the book will have picked up on a long time ago. The first book sets up a number of potential story arcs for each character, with the tiniest hint of romance. It will be interesting to see if the series takes an ironic look at the concept of talent, particularly where Hollywood dream factories are concerned. The first story featured a character’s tryout with an exclusive producer known for “creating” teen singing sensations. While the audition turned out a bit differently than the character had hoped, the issue of celebrity creation would be a subversive one to take on in a series like this one.
A visit to the series website reveals that Zoey Dean may actually be a woman named Kerry Shaw, depicted on the page as Zoey’s assistant. Because Internet gossip has indicated that Zoey Dean is the pen name of authors Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, I’m curious as to where this Kerry fits in. Are Cherie/Jeff/Zoey becoming a syndicate, a la Edward Stratemeyer? Is the name Zoey Dean the property of Cherie and Jeff or is it the property of Alloy Entertainment, the packaging company responsible for “Gossip Girl,” “The A-List,” “The Clique,” and “Talent?” I’ll be working on solving this mystery and will keep you posted . . .