Spotlight Author: Lisi Harrison

Hiya! Annika here. I have a brand new series: Spotlight Author. It's when I pick one of my favorite authors and spotlight him/her.

 This week's author is none other than... drumroll please... Lisi Harrison! Born Elyse E. Gottlieb, this Candian born author might have not even been able to shop at the GAP as a kid, but her glamorous YA books have taken America's tweens and teens by storm. She is the author of NYT Bestselling serieses The Clique,  Alphas and Monster High. All personal favorites for me. I have rarely tried to acquire all the books in a series, but I find myself eagerly devouring each one in each series. There's only a few Clique books I haven't read, one Alphas book and one Monster High Book.

But, there is a downside to reading such high quality books: other YA books that are similar in style and genre come off as cheesy, overdone and pale. There are few authors who match up with her, and those are to name another day.

Okay, truth be told I didn't much like the Clique at first, as at nine years old I thought the books were- I don't know... I was still reading the Ramona books then, mind you. Of course, the more I read them the more I realized how good they were.  I preferred Claire, who's sweet as the gummies she likes so much, even Massie, who made me want to tear my hair out sometimes, grew on me. Alicia, Dylan and Kristen did too. 

After Clique ended February 2011 (D8), I became more interested in Lisi's other series: Alphas. At first I wasn't sure. I mean, I can read a book overnight if I want to, but with Belle of the Brawl I just put it off. Finally, I finished it after a month. My library card didn't take kindly to that. I scooped up the first and last ones during the summer. I. Was. Hooked. I couldn't believe how Lisi blended glamour and sci-fi. One moment a super cute outfit was described, the next it was revealed it had climate adapting qualities! Alpha Island was just epic. And the ending was just epic. I would tell you, but I don't want to ruin that surprise. 

And last, but not least, I finally got to Monster High. At first I didn't have a high opinion of it. But then I read it. It was amazing! I loved Cleo de Nile (I started on the second book) because she reminded me of myself, in a way. Besides, she's an Egyptian Princess! I love Egypt. But the one who I really could relate to was Frankie Stein. Even if she was the daughter of Frankenstein, she was sweet as can be, green skin and all. After that I like Draculaura, then Clawdeen and Melody Carver. 

Well, that's all folks, Annika Elipton signing off! May the Force be with you!