My Double Life – LDS Women's Book Review

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (May 13, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399252622

Her whole life, Alexia Garcia has been told that she looks just like pop star Kari Kingsley, and one day when Alexia’s photo filters through the Internet, she is offered a job to be Kari’s double. This would seem like the opportunity of a lifetime, but Alexia’s mother has always warned her against celebrities.

Rebelliously, Alexia flies off to L.A. and gets immersed in a celebrity life. Not only does she have to get used to getting anything she wants, she romances the hottest lead singer on the charts, and finds out that her own father is a singing legend. Through it all, Alexia must stay true to herself, which is hard to do when you are pretending to be somebody else.

Once again Janette Rallison has delivered a book that all ages will love. My Double Life is a story of a teenage girl who has grown up with very little. Alexia has always been on the “outside” wanting just a little piece of feeling like she fits in. When she is offered the job to be the double for a famous singer, she jumps on it. The underlying story has to do with Alexia not knowing who her father is. Some of the events in the story you could see coming, such as to the identity of her father. The fun part is how this information comes out.

Alexia, the main character, is so easy to like. She is not whiny or self-centered. She is always trying to do the right thing. I recall finishing this book and thinking how I would not hesitate at all to have my daughter read this book. This cannot be said of all books written for teens. One of the main themes learned in My Double Life is that you should be grateful for the life you have. Other people’s lives may seem wonderful and perfect, but behind closed doors everyone has problems.

So, the main things I liked about this book was the humor, life lessons that are there, but not blatantly shoved down your throat, and likable characters. Readers that have read other books
by Janette Rallison will love this one. Those of you that have never read any of her books this is a good one to start with. My favorite book written by Janette is still Just One Wish so check out that one next.

If you would like to learn more about Janette Rallison, go visit her at her website here.

BIO:Janette lives in Chandler, Arizona with her husband, five children and enough cats to classify her as “an eccentric cat lady.” She did not do this on purpose. (The cats, that is; she had the children on purpose.) Every single one of the felines showed up on its own and refuses to leave. Not even the family’s fearless little Westie dog can drive them off.

Since Janette has five children and deadlines to write books, she doesn’t have much time left over for hobbies. But since this is the internet and you can’t actually check up to see if anything on this site is true, let’s just say she enjoys dancing, scuba diving, horse back riding and long talks with Orlando Bloom.