ARTICLES,
REVIEWS,
ESSAYS,
& PRESENTATIONS
on TEACHING ENGLISH
ARTICLES,
REVIEWS,
ESSAYS,
& PRESENTATIONS
on TEACHING ENGLISH
Title: Breakfast at Bloomingdale’s by
Kristen Kemp
ISBN 10: 0-439-80987-8 ISBN 13: 978-0-439-80987-8, Scholastic Press, New York,
NY 10012, © 2007 304 pp.
Genre: Fiction/General story from the point of an up and coming fashion designer, Grades 7 and up.
Characters: The main character in this story is Cat, a sarcastic seventeen year old that runs away to New York City to fulfill her biggest dream. She is an only child who lives with her grandmother (Nina) because she and her mother have a bad relationship. Ariel, “Mother heifer” as Cat refers to her, is Cat’s mother who works at the psychology center in town. Muddy is Cat’s ex-boyfriend. Trucker is Cat’s boyfriend who she met on the bus to New York. Other characters are her teacher/director Kera Sahn and her classmates in Bloomingdale’s competition, and Thomas, the man from Tiffany’s who helps Cat throughout the story.
Plot: Cat is a seventeen year old girl who loves to sew and make clothing designs with her grandmother Nina. She and Nina had a dream to be fashion designers for Bloomingdale’s. They had everything planned out; it would be a grandmother/granddaughter line called “Breakfast at Bloomingdale’s”. But when Nina dies, Cat’s world falls apart. She and her boyfriend break up when Cat decides to run away to escape living with her mother.
Alone, Cat makes it to New York City where she starts a new life with her new boyfriend and friends. When she enters a competition for fashion designers to get their designs into Bloomingdale’s, she gets the chance to fulfill her dream. Although Cat is trying to start a new life, her past seems to follow her. Then, when she finally thinks her past is behind her, she gets a few unexpected surprises.
Touchy Areas: There are not any severe touchy areas in this story, except when Cat is making out with her boyfriend. This book also contains very little language. There is nothing too mature for 7th graders, but this book would not be appropriate for younger age groups.
Related Titles: Hello Gorgeous: A Guide to Style (2000) by Kristen Kemp
Movies: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard; The Devil Wears Prada (2006) Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep
Music: Typical (2007) by Mutemath
Photos: Lighting Techniques for Fashion and Glamour Photography by Stephen A. Dantzig (http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1584281472/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-1748442-4050431#reader-link)
Related Websites: Cosmogirl (www.cosmogirl.com; Fashion Club (www.fashionclub.com)
Art: Marilyn Monroe (1967) by Andy Warhol
Poetry: Fashion by Prasenjit Maiti (http://www.greatworks.org.uk/poems/Maiti/PM32.html)
Classic Works: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) by Truman Capote
Evaluation: It amazed me how strong Cat remained throughout all of her troubles. She stayed calm and true to herself in some very tough situations. This book showed me that everyone can follow their dreams no matter how impossible they seem. I would rate this book 10 out of 10.
Reviewed by: Mary, 9th grade, Portsmouth High School