If you like fantasy/chick lit, on the order of Rhymes with Witches by Lauren Myracle, Bras & Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski, or Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, investigate Jennifer Lynn Barnes's new book, GOLDEN.

Jennifer is on the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit with me, and she took my teen angst novel quiz and turned out to be Tithe, by Holly Black. Plus she owns superhero trading cards and can explain transmogrification (see Fly Survey, below!)

Here's the idea of GOLDEN:
At Emory High, there are two kinds of people: those who matter, and those who don’t. For newcomer Lissy, understanding the hierarchy of the Goldens vs. the Nons is hard enough, plus her growing Aura Vision is getting harder and harder to hide.
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....

Sounds fun, doesn't it? Reviews call it "fast-moving" "light and playful" -- "glows with the spot-on insights and pitch-perfect prose of someone whose knowledge of adolescence is absolutely fresh."

Also, Jennifer's only just graduated from college, and has been writing novels since she was grasshopper size. You might really like her blog. Her book after this one is called TATTOO, and if you've ever seen me in person in the spring or summer, you'll know that book is right up my street.

And of course, she took the fly survey! and she is the Sparkly Avenger!

The Fly on the Wall Survey
(all about superheroes, because Fly on the Wall is, too. That, and about a girl who gets turned into a fly in the boys' locker room of her high school)
questions by me, answers by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

1) If you could be a fly on the wall somewhere, anywhere ? where?

Right now, I'd probably pick Tom Cruise's house. I'm really curious as to what
the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes relationship is really like, and I've always
wondered what it would be like to have grown up in a celebrity home.

2) If you could have one superpower, what?

Transmogrification- the ability to change anything into anything else, just by
waving your hand over it. Think about it- you could turn a dust mite into
diamonds or cotton candy or whatever you most desired. And you could
transmogrify yourself and change your own appearance at will, a la Mystique in
X-men. The possibilities are endless, but at the same time, it's a power that
you activate, and you can therefore just avoid using it when you want to take a
break from being a super hero and just live a normal life.

3) What is your superhero name? Why?

The Sparkly Avenger. I'm way too easily distracted by sparkly things.

4) Who is your favorite superhero?

Wolverine, from X-men (both the movie and the original Marvel version)- I really
dig the claws, and the fact that he traditionally has a soft spot for mutant
teens, like Rogue (in the movie) or Jubilee and Kitty in the comic.

5) Favorite non-super hero?

Even though I've never met her, I'd probably pick my dad's mother. She died
before I was born, but in addition to adopting my dad and his brother and being
an absolutely incredible mother to them, she also managed to overcome some
pretty tough times- she had to drop out of school after elementary to take care
of several younger brothers and sisters, and that was just the beginning.

6) Recommend us a superhero movie.

I'd probably go with X-men 2- the perfect mix of character development, humor,
and plenty of awesome special effects.

7) If you could turn in to any animal, what? Why?

I'd love to be a cheetah. The idea of being able to run that fast and be that
strong is very tempting to me. Plus, I'm not exactly an aggressive personality
type, and I think it would be interesting to be a predator, rather than prey.

8) Do you (or have you ever) read comic books? What? When?

I have an older brother and grew up reading comic books- we have some
collections in our house, like "The Greatest (fill in the blank with the name
of a superhero) Stories Ever Told"- so I've read some of the original Superman,
Spiderman, The Flash, and a few others. My brother and I were also really into
X-men growing up- I actually still have some of the trading cards.

I've always been fascinated by stories that operate on the level of the
fantastical/supernatural, and also on the level of character and everyday life,
and comic books tend towards those kind of stories.