Cheva, Cherry. She's so money.

CHEVA, Cherry. She's so money. HarperCollins. 290p. c2008. 978-0-061-28855-5. $16.99. JS *

According to various surveys that show upwards of 70 percent of high schoolers cheat if they think they can get away with it, maybe it's about time to have a subgenre of YA lit on the matter of cheating (Editors' note: see also Cheaters, by Michael Laser, in this issue of KLIATT). The cover and the title of this book suggest it's fluff, but the book, while funny and geared to a teenage audience, is more substantial. Maya is a Thai American. Her parents are immigrants from Thailand running a Thai restaurant, and their unpaid labor is their own children, who have to work regular shifts every day. Maya must also maintain an astronomical grade point average and take AP everything, besides working in the tutoring program after school so she can get into far-off Stanford. Maya, sharp and witty, has bought into the Asian work ethic, until her parents reluctantly leave her in charge one weekend to attend a family function. Maya offends some customers and then doesn't clean up that night. An unannounced visit from the health inspector brings a disastrous fine of S10,000 to be paid in six weeks or see the restaurant close. Of course, she cannot tell her parents. Maya's only solution seems to be to join forces with the evil and popular football hero Camden King and write his papers and do his homework for a lucrative reward. Before long, she's not only fallen for Camden's blue eyes (ewww!) but she's running a far-flung cheating business empire-until it all falls apart. Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Laie, HI