Suite Scarlett is the latest novel by the fantastically brilliant Maureen Johnson, author of such amazing titles as Girl At Sea, Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, and The Bermudez Triangle. Maureen Johnson is also a hilarious blogger. Anyone who knows anything knows that Maureen is a fabulously talented writer!

Which meant I had high expectations for this book, as will other readers. I was not disappointed! This book is just as full of three-dimensional characters, larger-than-life characters, madcap adventures, romance, absurdity, great dialogue, reality, and hilariousness as Maureen’s other titles.

Scarlett is a fifteen-year-old girl who is not really looking forward to her summer, which will be spent helping her family out by working at their hotel. The Hopewell Hotel, a boutique hotel in New York City, is having trouble staying in business, and they’ve just had to let the last of their staff go, along with Scarlett’s summer plans of finding a job where she can actually make some money.

However, the summer’s shaping up to be more interesting than she first thought. The hotel has a new guest, a very colorful character, Mrs. Amberson. She’s like no one Scarlett knows, and she wants to hire Scarlett for a summer job that promises to be anything but boring. Also spicing up her life is her older brother Spencer’s new coworker. Spencer is an actor who has just gotten a part in a play that is being performed in an old parking garage, and Scarlett is falling head-over-heels for another performer, Eric.

Scarlett’s got a lot on her plate: she’s got to deal with the sometimes-ridiculous demands of Mrs. Amberson, help with Spencer’s show, figure out if Eric likes her, deal with her bratty little sister Marlene and too-perfect older sister Lola, and save the Hopewell Hotel!

Suite Scarlett is a fantastically fun romp with real, serious parts as well, full of believable characters (even when they’re unbelievable). It’s a funny, engaging novel about family, crushes, life, and growing up. While not my favorite of Maureen Johnson’s oeuvre (that would be Girl at Sea), it’s still a book I urge you to go and preorder ASAP!