Melody Carlson’s latest novel for teens is The Jerk Magnet (Revell): When Chelsea Martin goes from geeky and gawky to gorgeous, she thinks it’s the best thing in the world, until she starts attracting jerks.
Melody says, “The Jerk Magnet was inspired by a friend of mine. She got a complete and massive makeover (including bleaching her hair blond and a nose job) which had some unexpected “side effects” in that she began to attract the “wrong” sort of guys. I jokingly told her that she’d turned herself into a “jerk magnet.” As a result I thought this is a story young girls need to hear. It’s a lighthearted book with some serious punch.”