Casey McCloy is moving in with her grandmother in Manhattan's Upper East Side. That would be Manhattan, NEW YORK. The coolest place ever. But as she meets the wealthy girls at the exclusive school she's attending, Casey misses her friends at home more and more. There's a darned good chance she's never going to fit in. These girls spend hundreds of dollars on one dress. Not something Casey could ever afford to do -- or would want to, for that matter.

But when she meets Drew, Casey decides that maybe this New York thing might work out. Of course, it doesn't help that he's the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Madison, one of the girls in the group Casey has been hanging with. Madison tries to act cool when Drew shows he's interested in Casey, but it's pretty clear that she's not.

All the angst of the teenage years is spewed in the pages of THE ELITE. But I am horrified by the sex, drinking and absolute snobbery that dominates those pages. Yes, we all like to read about the wealthy and their insane lifestyles (it's fun to dream), but come on...these teenagers are obsessed with expensive jeans, purses, sunglasses, dresses and on and on. And so much of that focus on "high quality" stuff seemed contrived, as if the author were dropping in names of expensive brands to make this realistic.

I probably would have been a little more open to this book if there had been some kind of spiritual growth or maturity. The only one who seems to do that is Drew, as he realizes Madison is not such hot stuff.