Sometime to Read By the Poolside, "Oh! You Pretty Things" by Shanna Mahin.

By Laura Medina

Shanna Mahin's "Oh! You Pretty Things," http://www.penguin.com/meet/publishers/dutton/

If you're one of the lucky thousands using Coachella/Palm Springs as a mature version of the collegiate Spring Break, here's a book you want to relax with, while soaking up the sun by the pool waiting for Coachella to start at 6pm this weekend night.

Shanna Mahin, was an Hollywood Insider because she's one of the few who's actually born and raised in Hollywood, a childhood of auditions and go-sees.  She's not a LA transplant, like the majority of people here.  What's hard to bear on her alter ego, Jess Dunne, the protagonist in "Oh! You Pretty Things," is a lifetime watching "transplants" making it and breaking into while third-generation Hollywood, like her, is just eking out living as working character actors and marginalized industry support assistants who will never receive recognition, much less fame and fortune.  Hollywood prove that just coasting by on heritage and bloodline don't guarantee instant success.  Fame and fortune isn't in the genes.  Through Jess' eyes, the fame and fortune her two-generations of single, struggling actresses moms have sought so hard for, fame and fortune is a frustrating mix of subjectivity, talent that comes from nowhere, and tenacity built on luck easily obtained by outsiders who don't come from heritage.

Through Jess Dunne's perspective, the fame and fortune she was raised for is a tempting apple that is within reach yet so unattainable.

This book, "Oh! You Pretty Things,"is a journey of frustration, the cliche of taking the road less taken, starter marriage, and shallow, selfish moms seen from the eyes of a marginalized support player who gave up being a star, yet was born into the system.

It also tells the real-life tale of sacrificing your friends and love life when you finally discover you're good at something, good enough that others demand of your time and energy...and knowing when to put limits or say good-bye to focus on what you need.

Young Adult Literature is an hot field ripe for TV and film.  

Why not get a jump start and discover the next hit by relaxing by the pool and discovering these potential pop culture gems during the Summer.

Shanna Mahin's "Oh! You Pretty Things" will be release by Dutton on April 14th.