Book BlurbEvery day I walked down the sidewalk to school and wished I were one of the interesting popular girls who ran up with exciting news. Just once I’d like to be one of those girls instead of the being the one who didn’t get invited to things because people “forgot” about me.Landry gets pushed into trying out for the American Ingénue reality show modeling competition with her two best friends. She doesn’t think she stands a chance, but she advances to the next level in the competition and her friends ignore her when they get cut.
Enter the gorgeous Devon, who also makes the first cut and includes Landry in her clique. Devon becomes the perfect best friend, but can their friendship survive the competition?
Landry hopes her big break could come at any moment, but soon sees there’s much more to modeling. She begins missing out on being with friends and has the chance to have a boyfriend when she meets a boy named Vladi from another school.
Part of Landry wants to be famous (and have her hair look good for once), but part of her just wants to be accepted. She learns about friendships, being true to yourself, and that a good hair conditioner doesn’t hurt.
Landry Character Bio
Landry Lilyanne Albright is an eighth grader at Hillcrest Academy. She was born in Chicago,
Illinois to Dr. Tony and Laine Albright. She moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan with her mother
when her mom was promoted and her father hopes to move there soon. Landry became best
friends with Tori Robins and Ericka Maines soon after enrolling at Hillcrest Academy.
Landry is an only child and enjoys writing and won second place in the Michigan Young Pens
writing competition. She has also become interested in modeling after getting through several
levels of the American Ingénue modeling reality show competition.
She is currently signed with the RiceCarter modeling agency in Grand Rapids. She considers
Ashanti Russell, Peyton Urich, and Devon Abrams to be her current best friends. Landry hopes to
one day date the soap star who plays Colin on, As the Days Roll On, or the cute freshman
basketball player, Vladi Yagudin. She loves her English lit class with Mrs. Kharrazzi and enjoys
reading. She is on a neverending quest for a hair product that will end her bad hair days and
ways to up her math grade that don’t involve intense tutoring.
Likes: Reading, soap operas like, “As the Days Rolls On,” ice cream sundaes from Ignatowski’s
Ice Cream Palace, shopping, magazines, cartoon movies, the Skylar Halston YA mystery series,
English lit class
Dislikes: mean people, gossip, math
Role models: Talisa Milan from American Ingénue, Melani Parkington from American Ingénue
Future career choices: Writer, English teacher, model, actress
Motto: Be yourself
Guest Post
I have been an educator for over thirty six years and really get excited
when a novel like True Colors came along. I wish this book was
available many moons ago when I was teaching so many preteen girls
who let their emotions and hormones interfere with their schoolwork.
Let me say that there just were not books out there that dealt with teen issues.
Author Krysten Lindsay Hager did a fabulous job of depicting the woes
of young teen girls. She must have gone undercover at a school to get
such accurate information.
At current I am a children's reading specialist providing reading
support services to struggling readers at a private school on Grand
Cayman.I selected True Colors for two of my young ladies, an eighth
grader and a sixth grader. Knowing both of these students from the
previous year and some of the issues they had with self confidence I
couldn't wait to share True Colors with them. The sixth grade student
was new last year and had a hard time fitting in and the student in
eighth grade endured various incidents of bullying. During reading
we often pause and comment about some girls that she has had similar
encounters with just as the main character did. We have discussions
about these situations which brings rich value to the text. The story has
a nice flow to it allowing for an educator to work those comprehension
questions into lessons.
I can honestly say that True Colors should be a staple for every junior
high and high school library and also available in the classroom
libraries. Three cheers for author Krysten Lindsay Hager for writing a
novel that will help so many young girls.
I also wanted to add I had mentioned the True Colors song by Cyndi
Lauper to them, and now we sing a few words on our way up to the
reading room.
Cheers!
Lorraine Carey
Reading Specialist
Triple C School
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Dream Cast List for True Colors
When I first got the idea for the book, I was in the sixth grade and imagining what the band The Bangles would have been like at age thirteen/fourteen. Over the years I’ve collected pictures of what I imagine some of that characters to look like. You can find more on my Pinterest site: http://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/true-colors-inspiration/
Landry Albright: Over the years I’ve pictured Landry as Ashlee Simpson when she was doing her reality show. Now, I’d say maybe Elle Fanning could play her.
Ashanti Russell: My original image for Ashanti was Letoya Luckett (original member of Destiny’s Child) and I pictured her at 14. Now I think Zendaya would be a great choice, too.
Vladi Yagudin: Ross Lynch
Talisa Milan: Talisa is the model Landry admires for her work ethic and is sort of the “smart” model (like Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington were when I was growing up) and Landry is always reading what a hard worker Talisa is, so I picture Jennifer Lopez as Talia.
Devon Abrams: Selena Gomez with curly hair!
Mrs. Kharazzi (Landry’s favorite teacher): Shohreh Aghdashloo
Mr. Albright (Landry’s Dad) Ty Treadway
Hana Ito: Fumie Suguri (figure skater)
Yasmin McCarty: Victoria Justice
Peyton Urich: Bella Thorne
Thalia Zimmer: Ciara Bravo
Mr. Urich (Peyton’s dad): Harrison Ford
India Allen: Stephanie Scott
Tori Robins: Laura Marano
Ericka Maines: Ariana Grande
Arianna Seymour: Dove Cameron
Colin the soap star (Landry’s celebrity crush): Michael Bergin
Blake Alderson (Devon’s older movie star crush the girls tease her about): Liam Neeson
Mrs. Albright (Landry’s mom): Darlene Vogel
Landry’s Grandma Albright: Michael Learned
Mrs. Urich (Peyton’s mom): Sharon Osbourne
Mr. Urich (Peyton’s dad): Harrison Ford
Kyle Eiton: Austin Mahone
Doug (Devon’s crush): Spencer Boldman
Manny: Adam Irigoyen
Bradley McMillian (Ashanti’s soap star crush) Shemar Moore
Author Bio
Krysten Lindsay Hager is an author and book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and also writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. TRUE COLORS is her bestselling debut novel from Astraea Press. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing. She received her master’s in American Culture from the University of Michigan-Flint.
Krysten's Link
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