Hot Mess (27 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Julie Kraut wants to say thank you to: Krista Marino—who makes dreams come true over the salad bar, Phil Frankel—a real-life superhero who came to the rescue, Ashley Messick, Julie Hochheiser, Kissy Hardeman, Kelcye Ball, Gabi Arnay, Emily Roumm, Jessie Zerendow, Vanessa Bayer, Ariana Jackson, Lauren Jaffe, Angela Carlino, Beverly Horowitz, Random House Children’s Sales, Rosy and Tom Khosravi, Grandma and Grandpa, Mom, Dad, and Andy, and the glitter, glam, and talent that is the real-life Jayla, Ms. Shallon Lester.

Shallon Lester would like to thank her rabid cheering section, to whom she owes everything: Mama and Gigi, Dee Reynolds, the Goddess Temple of Orange County, Sam Paz, Dena Horton, Christine Huang, Ellen Chen, Dorit Barlevy, Jeff Clinard, Sarah Kloepfer, the Snip Snaps, and the hotness to my mess, Ms. Julie Kraut.

J
ulie
K
raut
hails from the not-so-mean streets of suburban Maryland. She now lives in New York City, where she shimmies her sensible pumps up the corporate ladder, and writes. This is her very first book.

S
hallon
L
ester
hails from Orange County, California, and was an editor at
FHM
magazine before writing
Hot Mess
. She currently lives in Manhattan, where she is a gossip writer for the
New York Daily News
. This is her first novel but certainly not her last.

Published by Delacorte Press an imprint of Random House Children’s Books a division of Random House, Inc.

New York

This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the authors’ imaginations and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2008 by Julie Kraut and Shallon Lester

All rights reserved.

Delacorte Press and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kraut, Julie.

Hot mess: summer in the city / Julie Kraut & Shallon Lester.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: To escape a bad breakup in Bridgefield, New York, almost-eighteen-year-old Emma takes a summer internship in New York City where she, her best friend, and their rich, sophisticated landlady face a series of dating disasters.

[1. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 2. Internship programs—Fiction. 3. Best friends—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction.]

I. Lester, Shallon. II. Title.

PZ7.K8753Hot 2008

[Fic]—dc22

2007034793

Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

eISBN: 978-0-375-84906-0

v3.0