Oh Yeah, Audrey!

by Tucker Shaw

Overview

It’s 5:00 a.m. on Fifth Avenue, and 16-year-old Gemma Beasley is standing in front of Tiffany & Co. wearing the perfect black dress with her coffee in hand—just like Holly Golightly. As the cofounder of a successful Tumblr blog—Oh Yeah Audrey!—devoted to all things Audrey Hepburn, Gemma has traveled to New York in order to meet up with her fellow bloggers for the first time. She has meticulously planned out a 24-hour adventure in homage to Breakfast at Tiffany’s; however, her plans are derailed when a glamorous boy sweeps in and offers her the New York experience she’s always dreamed of. Gemma soon learns who her true friends are and that, sometimes, no matter where you go, you just end up finding yourself.Filled with hip and sparkling prose, Oh Yeah, Audrey! is as much a story of friendship as it is a love letter to New York, Audrey Hepburn, and the character she made famous: Holly Golightly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613126981
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tucker Shaw, who has been featured on The Today Show, is the author Everything I Ate and many popular books for teens, including Confessions of a Backup Dancer. He lives in Denver, where he is a food editor for the Denver Post.

Editorial Reviews

08/18/2014
Sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley sneaks off to New York City to meet friends she only knows from a joint Tumblr page devoted to their passion for Audrey Hepburn. Now they’re meeting in person for the first time in a day of Hepburn-inspired fun. The arrival of Dusty, a gorgeous music industry scion Gemma has been flirting with for weeks, upends Gemma’s and her new friends’ big day as he steals Gemma away with seductive promises of romance—and an actual Hepburn dress. Audrey may be the center of just about everyone’s attention in Shaw’s (Anxious Hearts) story, but it’s really about friendship, shared dreams, and the lonelier and less glamorous side of Holly Golightly. The question of what, exactly, men gave Holly money for in Breakfast at Tiffany’s hangs over the novel, paving the way for a direct lesson in sexual consent as Gemma’s whirlwind romance sours and she realizes she’s abandoned her friends. These and other lessons land fairly heavily and sit uneasily against the giddy fun of the rest of the book. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Oh Yeah, Audrey sets the stage for a clean, well-put-together adventure in New York City. Girls in particular, eighth grade and up, will like this enchanting book from beginning to end. Reviewer: Chelsea Stockdale, Teen Reviewer; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, October 2014 (Vol. 37, No. 4) - Chelsea Stockdale

Audrey Hepburn looms large in Gemma Beasly’s life. Since her mother’s death, Gemma has been overly focused on the actress’s life and fashion. She knows all of Hepburn’s movies and can recite all of the lines. She is intimately familiar with every piece of clothing and understands how Holly Golightly, her favorite Hepburn character from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, could leave everything behind to become someone else. Together with her virtual friends Trina and Brian, she maintains a web page called “Oh Yeah, Audrey,” dedicated to all things Audrey Hepburn. On the twentieth anniversary of Hepburn’s death, they decide to come from their disparate cities to meet in New York and enjoy the ultimate Breakfast at Tiffany’s experience, starting at 6:00 am in front of Tiffany’s and ending at a midnight showing of the movie. But at an auction of Hepburn clothes, Gemma meets rich Dustin, another virtual relation, who offers a different path for her one-day experience in New York. Gemma must decide between her friends and these unique experiences, but whichever choice she makes, she will learn what the true cost of recreating yourself is, as Holly Golightly did. Shaw creates an engaging tale of three misfits getting together for a shared experience. Told from Gemma’s perspective over the course of twenty-four hours, Oh Yeah, Audrey does an excellent job of relating her introspection and understanding of herself and others. This is a must-read for fans of Hepburn, and those who enjoy a coming-of-age tale will cheer for Gemma as she discover what truly matters to her. Reviewer: Etienne Vallee; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, October 2014 (Vol. 37, No. 4) - Etienne Vallee

Sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley did not run away to New York City. It is not running away if you intend to go back, is it? After all, how could the creator of the “Oh Yeah, Audrey” blog, devoted to Audrey Hepburn, NOT attend the midnight showing of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” at the Ziegfield Theater? She has an entire itinerary planned, from breakfast at Tiffany’s—well, outside of Tiffany’s anyway—to the movie at midnight. Two of her most loyal followers—Bryan, a wealthy teen from Bel Air, who is a walking encyclopedia of classic film trivia; and Trina, a tall, redheaded waitress from Colorado—have both promised to be there. And though she hates to admit it, she would not complain if Dusty, a follower who discovered the site looking for homework help with whom she has made a special connection, showed up as well. Of course, her dad would never have agreed to let her come on her own, so she told him she was staying with a friend and hopped a Greyhound from Philadelphia to New York for her own little adventure. Readers will fall in love with Gemma, a girl trying to figure out who she is and what she wants, and who may have bitten off a bit more than she can chew. Secondary characters are a little less carefully drawn, but mostly loveable all the same. The plot certainly stretches the imagination, but what it lacks in believability it makes up in sheer romantic fun. It may not be very likely that a group of teens could crash a Hepburn auction or land a night in a five-star hotel, but wouldn’t it be amazing if they could? Introduce a new generation to a Hollywood classic with this fun, light read. Reviewer: Heather Christensen; Ages 12 up.

Children's Literature - Heather Christensen

08/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—Trying to cope with the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Beasley, a girl from Philadelphia, finds solace in her Tumblr blog, "Oh yeah, Audrey," entirely dedicated to Audrey Hepburn. When Gemma plans a trip with friends Bryan and Trina (whom she met through her blog), things are not quite what she imagined. The three friends are determined to live out a day of Holly Golightly's life from Breakfast at Tiffany's with New York City as their backdrop. All is well until a girl who has been flaming the blog shows up unexpectedly, and a handsome playboy named Dusty, whom Gemma has been helping with his Audrey Hepburn report via her blog, crashes the party as well. Gemma is swept up in a world of glamour and frivolity and has moments that help her forget about her very real grief. Readers will come away with the sense that everyone handles grief differently and that it is unhealthy to run away from problems. Though the story had true potential, it gets lost in the romance novel tropes, gay male stereotypes, and all the kitsch of a sitcom laugh track. Oh Yeah, Audrey falls short of wowing the way the real Audrey Hepburn did throughout her iconic career. —Krishna Grady, Darien Library, CT

School Library Journal

2014-08-06
A teen blogger obsessed with Audrey Hepburn organizes a magical weekend for fellow Breakfast at Tiffany's fans. Sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley is no Holly Golightly. But for one weekend, she is determined to approximate the famous character's glamorous life by inviting followers of her Oh Yeah, Audrey! blog to join her for a midnight screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's in New York City. For two days, Gemma hopes to forget about life in the cramped Philly apartment she shares with her lonely father after her mother's recent death. Gemma is thrilled to meet her online friends Bryan and Trina in front of Tiffany's jewelry store, but their detailed agenda is soon derailed when another Oh Yeah, Audrey! fan tells them about an auction of Audrey Hepburn's clothes and memorabilia. At the auction, Gemma connects with a wealthy boy named Dusty who is also a follower of her blog, and he ends up purchasing her one of Audrey's iconic dresses. But after ditching her friends for Dusty, Gemma is left asking herself some hard questions about integrity, including, is this what Audrey would do? Gemma is correct in informing readers that if they have watched the film Breakfast at Tiffany's, "the rest of this story will make a lot more sense," but it's not a necessity. Any teen who's ever dreamed big or worshipped a star from afar will relate to this lightweight but nonetheless enchanting novel about identity and self-worth. (Fiction. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews