Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance

Author: Brendan Halpin & Emily Franklin
Recommended Age: 12 +
Publisher:  Bloomsbury Juvenile US
ISBN-10:  080272342X
ISBN-13:   978-0802723440  
Year Published: 2011
No. Pages: 288
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Character Gender: Mixed
Read & Reviewed by: Peyton



Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance is about two teenagers that have been starring in a show called, Jenna and Jonah's How to Be a Rock Star which is coming to it's fifth season, but that might not happen when a rumor starts that could ruin their careers.

Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers, have been on the their hit TV series for about four years. In their show they play neighbors who fall in love with each other and start a band. It’s their off-screen relationship that has brought them the most fame as fans follow their PDA. Every week, their photos grace the covers of every magazine and they have chapters of their fan club across the country. The only problem is their romance is a fauxmance – a publicity stunt, but how fun would it be to date someone because you have to? Well they can’t stand each other. When the paparazzi blow their cover, Charlie and Fielding have to disappear to avoid the media circus. On their “vacation” they realize they know nothing about each other, will they discover something beyond their shiny hair and famous smiles?                                                                                                       
I liked that there were two authors so there was a male writing for the part of Aaron and a female writing for Charlie. The chapters flip from Charlie’s perspective to Aaron’s perspective. I don’t think that the story would be as good if there was only one author writing for these two characters because the characters would likely not have been so different. The two authors enabled the character’s voices and viewpoints to be soley theirs and likely, much more credible. I believe that most of the success of this novel was because of the strength of the two main characters.

Charlie is like most teenage girls despite the fact that she is famous and is dating someone she can’t stand. I liked her because she is someone you would want as a friend even if she wasn't famous. I also liked her because she wasn't spoiled like you would think teenage actors/actresses would be. I think girls could relate to her because she still has to deal with teenage problems like self-esteem, romance and friendships, and her story also shows that being famous is no walk in the park

Fielding's real name is Aaron. Fielding is a name given to him by his mom when he started acting because it sounded more famous. At the beginning of the book I thought he would be full of himself and would be rude, but later in the book I realized that he is not as Charlie portrayed him. I wouldn't think that Aaron would be the type of guy to be on a musical type show if I met him. I think guys would like him because he hangs out with his friends and plays video games when he has the chance to like a lot of my male friends do.

I gave this book a 10/10 because it was a quick and easy read and I liked the idea of the story. Celebrity magazines are everywhere and I think that gave a realistic portrayal of how the paparazzi don’t understand the stars’ viewpoints and don’t often report the truth. I think males and females would like this novel, because it's not girly, despite the pink cover. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun and quick read.