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| Golden | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $7.95
Buy New: $1.45
You Save: $6.50 (82%)
New (7) Used (13) from $0.61
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 753694
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0385733119
EAN: 9780385733113
ASIN: 0385733119
Publication Date: July 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she finds herself in the middle of a teenage nightmare: a social scene to rival a Hollywood movie. And if understanding the hierarchy of the Goldens vs. the Nons isn’t hard enough, Lissy’s ever growing Aura Vision is getting harder and harder to hide, and if she’s not careful, she’s going to become a Non faster than you can say “freak.”
But it’s becoming clear that Emory High has a few secrets of its own. Around the halls, the term “special powers” goes way beyond one’s ability to attract the opposite sex, and there may be something more evil than the A-crowd lurking in the classrooms. Lissy can see a lot more than the average girl, but she’s about to learn the hard way that things aren’t always as they appear and you can’t always judge a girl by her lip gloss.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 ARTICULATE NARRATION OF A TEENAGER'S HOPES AND DREAMS August 7, 2006
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
The trials and tribulations of adolescence have been addressed in song and story but perhaps not as intriguingly as in this debut novel. It was written when the author was 19, thus she had a recent and fresh take on those sometimes acutely painful years. Add a bit of fantasy, and you have a captivating story. Chick lit? Yes, but nonetheless above the expected.
There are many pitfalls for teenagers and moving is surely one of them, so it was quite a shock for Lissy James when she moved from California to Oklahoma - from the Golden State to the Sooner State and Emory High where she knew absolutely no one. Perhaps the worst part of moving from California was leaving Paul, her best friend and "partner in crime." They'd known each other since kindergarten. We hear: "And now, a thousand miles away from home and who knows how far from civilization, all I had left of Paul was the seashell he'd given me on my sixth birthday, his last words to me ("I'll miss you, Weasel"), and a memory of him on the beach. The colored lights around him had stood out, midnight blue against the stark white sand, moving in slow waves as he watched me drive away forever. "
Now, Lissy is not just an ordinary teenager as she has Aura Vision, she sees people by colors. There is one particularly frightening person at her new school - the math teacher who seems to have no color. The colors that Lissy sees are clues to the person's personalities, thus to her that particular teacher is someone to be feared.
Of course, there are cliques at Emory High, the "in" crowd and those who don't seem to matter. More problems for a newcomer.
Fortunately for Lissy she comes from a very stable home, parents who love and support her and a fine younger sister, Lexie. Still, she's alone when she goes to school and she must not only adjust to her new surroundings but also somehow discover what the math teacher might do.
Many may remember stage, screen and television actress Jenna Lamia's superb narrations of The Secret Life of Bees and Girl With a Pearl Earring. She's an articulate narrator who, in this instance, artfully portrays a teenager trying to cope. We hear Lissy's fears, hopes, and determination.
- Gail Cooke
 FANTASTIC PAGE TURNER August 9, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
GOLDEN, the debut novel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, centers around the story of Lissy, a middle-of-the-road teenager with just one special characteristic: Her ability to see auras.
When Lissy moves from California to Oklahoma, her gift of Sight starts to go all crazy, and she has to learn to deal, along with navigating an insane social ladder at the new school.
This book is fun, intriguing, and just won't let go. I LOVE the fantasy element, even though I dont usually read fantasy/paranormals...it works SO well in this novel that you believe every page of it. You also never see the end coming-- and by the time it does, you wish the sequel was already out.
Five stars for Jennifer Lynn Barne's debut, GOLDEN
Courtesy of Teens Read Too December 30, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Jennifer Lynn Barnes wrote GOLDEN when she was only nineteen, but you can't tell that by reading this book. It doesn't seem like a teenager wrote it (not that all teenagers are bad writers, but most think they're way better than they actually are), but an experienced author. In the novel, Lissy James' family moves to California from Oklahoma. Big deal. Lots of people move. Lissy's move, however, is a little different.
There are two major dramas she has to deal with in her life. One is the typical teen-movie sort of high school thing: everyone in her high school is separated into two groups. Goldens are the popular ones, Nons are everyone else. She's got to understand that and decide which side she falls on.
She may not have much of a choice, though, if her Aura Vision gets in the way of things. In her family, the women have powers to see things differently from most people, and Lissy can see people's auras. If that's not freaky enough, her powers are expanding so that she can see more, even the connections between people. Possibly, she thinks, the fault of her grandmother.
Every part of this book is great. The characters are interesting (with way more to them than meets the eye, which is nice, not to have everything right at the surface). The plot as well. Perhaps teenagers in an ordinary world with magical powers are becoming rather common in young adult literature, but this book is one of the better ones of that type. Anyway, it's a good thing to write about. Popular, and you can usually get a good story out of it. This author sure did!
In this story, there's evil. There's magic. There's the popular crowd versus the losers. Even a hint of romance. Basically, take elements from lots of popular teen books, put them together, and you have a great book: GOLDEN. Not only is it a fabulous first novel, but it's written by a brilliant new author. I'm certainly looking forward to reading Jennifer Lynn Barnes' next book!
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
Aura Borealis January 15, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Lissy James comes from a long line of ladies who possess the Sight, a supernatural sense or ability of some kind. She can see people's auras, with different shades indicating different personalities - and good or bad intentions. The women in her family - especially her younger sister Lexie, who has yet to acquire a Sight of her own - think she should be proud of her Aura Vision and hone her skill. Lissy would rather not broadcast her gift to her classmates.
Before her family moved, Lissy told herself that Oklahoma wouldn't be the same as California, but she had no idea how different it would truly be. At her new school, the popular crowd decides who is hot (or, as they say, Golden) and who is not (Non). Lissy watches as the popular girls work their charms on the boys and realizes something out of the ordinary is going on. Before she knows it, she's swept up in a power struggle not only between social classes but between good and evil.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes' debut novel is sure to appeal to fans of modern-day supernatural stories set in high school. With realistic dialogue, a good amount of twists and turns, and a rainbow of colors, the auras and characters of Golden shine.
enchantedly wonderful February 9, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When Lissy James moves from California to Oklahoma, she expects her new home life to be exceedingly boring. After all, what is even in Oklahoma? When she gets to Emory High, however, she realizes it is going to be anything but boring. The social structure -- Goldens vs. Nons, is both extremely prominent and hard to understand. Lissy is even more worried about Emory High discovering her Aura Vision, which is growing stronger all the time and sure to label her as a freak and a Non for life. The more time she spends there the more she realizes that the may not be the only one with "powers" and that not even her aura vision can help her know at all times who is good and who is not. Readers will cheer for Lissy as she battles evil, some in the form of her school's alpha female, some much more dangerous. This new-girl tale has far too many supernatural elements to be completely familiar, yet girls everywhere will relate, and the characters are realistic enough that you may start to wonder when you'll receive your powers.
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