Celebutantes

IT’S SUMMER IN the city for Madison, Park, and Lexington Hamilton. Only, these triplet heiresses have more on their plate than hot-tubbing and the Hamptons. The Royal Crown Society of America is one of the most exclusive private clubs in the country and the triplets have secured membership. Even more exciting is that pop-art It girl Tallulah Kayson will unveil her newest masterpiece at their very own inaugural luncheon. But when they run into Tallulah’s mysterious boyfriend, Elijah Traymore, hitting on their friend Coco McCaid, something doesn’t feel right. And when Elijah plunges to his death from the hotel penthouse, that feeling is confirmed. Elijah was pushed, and judging from the limited edition pink cell phone found at the scene of the crime, Coco McCaid needs a very good lawyer.

The school year’s almost over, and Madison, Park, and Lexington Hamilton are ready to trade in their Birkin bags for bikinis. But before vacation comes work, and the triplets have plenty of it. Cleopatra, the newest, hottest, and most expensive club in Manhattan, is opening–and it just happens to also be Hamilton Holdings’ latest business venture. The girls must throw the party to end all parties. But this is one opening the sisters won’t soon forget. Before the night ends, the body of a classmate is found with a bloody wound on the side of his head. At first glance, the case appears to be open-and-shut. But the girls smell trouble. They know the murderer is still out there, and they’re willing to bet their sizable inheritance that the police won’t be able to unravel the mystery. Murder is so out, but until this crime is solved, it’s arrivederci Italia. And the Hamilton sisters simply won’t accept that as an option.

The Hamilton Triplets—Madison, Park, and Lexington—are accustomed to living in the public eye. Heiresses to a billion-dollar media empire, they have been raised in New York's most elite social circles and, at 16, know firsthand the demands of being celebutantes. There are people to impress, appearances to make, and paparazzi to outrun. Not to mention high school to finish. But when fashion editor Zahara Bell is found dead in a one-of-a-kind frock from Lex's unreleased clothing line, and then the priceless Avenue Diamond goes missing, getting to class is as far from the triplets' minds as their first pair of Manolos. One of the girls is a suspect, and the sisters find themselves in the middle of a scandal that could sink their reputations and their father's companies for good. And the press is ready, willing, and able to lend a hand. The Hamilton sisters need to stick closer than ever before. The killer is still out there, and if they don't solve the case their threesome could become a twosome quicker than you can say Cartier.

Prepare to enter a world of what fashion designer Michael Kors has called "stylish intrigue, glamorous machinations, and such juicy fun." Take a wild ride with Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Hopper, who have culled their insider's purview to peel back Oscar's legendary curtain and reveal what really goes on under the sheets of Young Hollywood. Do Happy Hollywood Endings really exist, or does everyone end up on the cutting room floor sooner or later? It's a shocking, entertaining race to the end of the red carpet... Twenty-six-year-old Lola Santisi, daughter of an Academy Award-winning mega-director and a former cover model, is Hollywood Royalty without a kingdom—or even a condo—to call her own. This "Actorholic," who also suffers from "Career Deficit Disorder," is looking for more from life than what her famous last name has offered, namely her mother's last-season Chanel hand-me-downs and the lurking shadow of her father's fame. In her latest gig as a Hollywood ambassador, Lola's stepping out of her Louboutins and into fashion's ultimate combat boots to engage in LA's cruelest blood sport: convincing celebrities to wear an unknown designer's gowns to the Oscars. Providing advice, emotional support, and even a new mantra or two are her BFF (Best Friend Forever) Kate Woods, an obsessively ambitious talent agent desperate to go from unter to über, and her BAF (Best Actress Forever) Cricket Curtis, a struggling up-and-comer trying to surpass her role as a coma victim on Grey's Anatomy and overcome one rejection after another to become the next Cameron Diaz or Nicole Kidman, or the next anybody. Together, they dodge fashion roadkill while navigating General Motors' Annual Fashion Show, the Gagosian dinner at Mr. Chow, and more. Ultimately, the week culminates at the über-exclusive Vanity Fair Oscar party, where the allotted time slot on your invitation marks how far in or out you really are. But who will be left standing with job, heart, and stilettos still intact at the after-after-Oscar party?

Here is a devastating, hilarious satire of coffee-swilling, celebrity-obsessed Southern California pop culture by one of the freshest new voices in fiction. Morgan Beale has a celebutante, masochist wife and a home being renovated. He begins adapting the latest bestseller, The Chihuahua in the Blue Prada Bag, from a local hotel room. Dodging the paparazzi one morning on his way to Starbucks, he discovers the surreal otherworld of Starbucks Nation, a film set littered with characters from Beale’s life and the novel he’s adapting, including a talking Chihuahua and an elite commando unit of ethnic cookie-making elves. Mercilessly lampooning our fascination with reality television, celebrity blunders, B movies, and mindless infotainment, Starbucks Nation brilliantly showcases the absurdities of modern society.

Team Aniston or Team Jolie? Whether you have admittedly chosen a side, chances are you know the feud these slogans reference and perhaps even remember where you were when news of the Aniston-Pitt split broke. Over the past three decades, buzz over the rich and famous has exploded, thanks in part to refined technology, well-oiled media outlets, and a dedicated few who have greased up their own laptops to challenge the tabloid giants (think Perez Hilton). Much to their chagrin, or so they say, celebrities have become all the rage, lending to their adoring, or simply inquisitive, public not only a glamorous escapism but also the reality that even megastars suffer fault. Marjorie Hallenbeck-Huber fills you in on the juiciest bits to hit the celebrity gossip circuit over the past three decades. Read about the most bizarre hookups (Lance Armstrong and an Olsen twin, anyone?); marriages that lasted a Hollywood second, or fifty-five hours in the case of Britney Spears; celebrity baby names, like Heavenly Hiranni Tiger Lily, that even the creative teams at Crayola could not dream up; diet tricks and training regimens that guarantee a camera-ready body; “it” travel destinations where celebs go to laze under the sun—or to do good; and infamous crack-ups that surely sent publicists into a damage-control frenzy. Did we forget to mention sex tapes? Celebrities’ Most Wanted™ grants you access to the fascinating world of the rich and famous, where Red Carpet is a season, Fiji is more than a bottle of water, and saving the world is not such a far-off possibility.

"The news in 2008 was that women had taken huge strides forward. Feminists' decades-long struggle finally seemed to be paying off, not only in boardrooms, classrooms, and kitchens but also at the very top-in presidential politics. But what is the truth behind the headlines? In Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future, renowned feminist author Barbara J. Berg debunks the many myths about how far women have come and the pervasive belief that ours is a post-feminist society. Combining authoritative research and compelling storytelling, Berg traces the assault on women's status from the 1950s-when Newsweek declared "for the American girl, books and babies don't mix"-to the present, exploring the deception about women's progress and contextualizing our current situation. All women are hurt by a society lauding their attributes in speeches while scorning them in public policy and popular culture, and the legacy of the women's movement is being short-circuited in every aspect of their lives. Passionate, extensively documented, humorous, and persuasive, Sexism in America is simultaneously enlightening, frightening, and revitalizing. Berg, an ardent optimist, helps women understand where they are and why and how they can move beyond the marginalizing strategies. It is exactly the right book at exactly the right time"--Provided by publisher.

Get the tools to help the grief that comes when a dream dies Every person at one time or another suffers when his or her dreams are shattered. Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy: When the Music Stops, a Dream Dies provides truly innovative approaches to therapeutically help individuals work through and survive grief and loss. Leading experts explore creative interventions for common, yet emotionally devastating problems faced by those weathering the storms of grief after their dream has been destroyed. Therapists and counselors get the effective tools to creatively help people through the difficulties of dealing with death, addiction, trauma, changes in life circumstances, divorce, heartbreak, miscarriage, co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder (COD), suicide, adoption, and issues with children. The chapters in this innovative volume cite existing research on specific grief and loss issues and illustrate a clinical application for each situation using various creative mediums such as music, writing, or ritual. Each approach can be expanded and modified with care by clinicians of all types to better help clients through the process. This resource is extensively referenced. Topics in Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy include: how storytelling, journaling, and correspondence can be used to process the experience of a counselor’s loss following the death of their client using psychodrama and the utilization of empty chair techniques to address addiction related grief and loss the use of rituals as an intervention to help clients trauma and loss during times of natural disasters the process of gatekeeping by counselor educators Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) as an approach to help student athletes deal with life after the sport a literary exercise to help clients work toward forgiveness after divorce using books, songs, and projects to assist clients experiencing grief after the death of their adolescent child creative strategies to aid clients through the grief and loss of love effective interventions to assist clients through loss from miscarriage using music, videography, visual arts, literature, drama, play, and altar-making in the grief process innovative interventions for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder suicide high risk factors—and a Pre-suicide Preparation Plan that mental health practitioners can implement creative intervention for the client who is adopted using super heroes and science fiction therapeutic storytelling for children in grief Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy: When the Music Stops, a Dream Dies is a creative, reaffirming resource perfect for mental health professionals, therapists, counselors, social workers, educators, and students.