View source for Susanna Covers the Catwalk (Susanna) by Mary Hogan

{{infobox1 
|title= Susanna Covers the Catwalk (Susanna)
|author= Mary Hogan
|reviewer= Zoe Morris
|genre=Teens 
|summary= Susanna's at Fashion Week to get the scoop of the century, if she can just find out how to get backstage, in this light-hearted, humorous read.
|rating=4.5 
|buy= Yes
|borrow= Yes
|pages=192 
|publisher= Simon & Schuster Children's
|date= October 2008
|isbn=978-1416901594 
|cover=1416901590
|aznuk=1416901590
|aznus=1416901590
}}

''Grey is the new black, shorts are the new trousers, long sweaters are the new shirts...Or is pink the new grey? Are trousers the new shorts?''

These are just some of the conundrums facing Susanna, average high school student with a less than average internship at hit fashion magazine ''Scene''.  But, as a budding fashionista, Susanna can take all this in her stride in the run up to the event of the season, New York Fashion Week. Juggling a busy family life, her school work and the return of an old love, she just needs to find a way backstage to get the scoop on what's going on behind the scenes. 

Sure, most people would consider this an impossible challenge, but this is the ''Girl in the trunk'' we're talking about, and if you can sneak into the Oscars, getting behind those lush black curtains should be a piece of low-carb/no-dairy/fat-free cake, right? Susanna has a whole list of tricks up her very-this-season sleeve. If she's not fake-fainting and blaming it on 'girly problems', she's feeding the models sandwiches (carbs!) or impersonating a security guard. After all, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I thought this book was great because you really got the feel you were at Bryant Park, scouring the big white tents. It just has an authentic air to it. The magazine setting is also captured well, from the editor who can't be bothered to remember the intern's name (she'll call Susanna a variety of monikers - Sue, Susan, Suzanne...anything but her actual name, really) to snotty receptionists a la Amanda in ''Ugly Betty''.

This is the third book in the ''Susanna'' series and while there are some references to her earlier exploits, the story is pretty self-contained. It's an easy, fun read that I whizzed through, and thoroughly enjoyed thanks to the slapstick comedy, the juicy setting (it's all very [[The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger|The Devil Wears Prada]]) and the great writing. Susanna is an inspiring lead character because she's living the champagne lifestyle on lemonade money, and has got to this point through hard work and talent, not luck. She's appealing to the ordinary girl who dreams of doing something different, and each book in the series has a new adventure, from a trip to Hollywood to a stint in London.

This will appeal to fans of ''Gossip Girl'' and ''Ugly Betty''. For another look at the fashion world, check out [[Fashionistas by Sarra Manning|Fashionistas]] while Mary Hogan's tale of life and love in Italy, [[Pretty Face by Mary Hogan|Pretty Face]], is also worth a read.

Thanks go to the publishers for supplying this book to The Bookbag.  We also have a review of [[Susanna Loves London by Mary Hogan]].

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