The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz

Allie is a music snob, unabashedly and unforgivingly. In fact, she is a princess of vinyl. She works at Bob & Bob Records, and writes her own music blog as the "Vinyl Princess". Her best friend works down the street, and Allie is set for a laid back summer. She starts crushing on a mystery guy who comes into the store.

It's a typical summer for Allie, with her mom starting to date again (shudder), her best friend dragging her along to spy on her boyfriend, and a string of unsolved robberies on the street she works. AND her dad just told her he's having a baby with his new wife! Or wait...maybe that isn't so typical.

M, ("mystery guy") she learns, is actually named Joel. He even asks her out for coffee after coming in to buy cds one day. Maybe things are starting to look up for Allie after all? She's still in high school, is it too much to ask for romance to find her? Some dorky kid Zach starts coming into the store, and even complimenting her Vinyl Princess zine she's been printing and bringing to work.

One night, after Allie is closing without Bob, they get held up. Thank goodness, no one is hurt. They just turn over the money, and call the police. But Allie thinks she knows who one of them might be...should she tell the police? What should she do? She finally gets home...and finds another disaster, courtesy of her best friend. After such a long week, who can blame her for forgetting to listen to the mix that Zach made her? I mean, really?

Will the Vinyl Princess achieve success in life, love, AND in cyberspace?This is an honest, quick read, with well developed characters, and of course, kick ass music references. Highly recommended for any music lover.

"...I'm what people in the record store business refer to as a 'throwback,' an 'audiophile,' a 'record geek.' Secretly, though, I'm the Vinyl Princess. My knowledge of music is encyclopedic. Before I got this job, I spent more time in this store than Bob's employees. I owned a decent turntable by the time I was seven and by the time I was twelve my vinyl collection had swelled to nine hundred albums," (Prinz pg. 9, 2010).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
Double Dare Clare by Yvonne Prinz
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Prinz, Yvonne. (2010). The Vinyl Princess. New York: HarperTeen (HarperCollins).