(4) YA By day they're servers at a high-end restaurant. By night, they're competitors in a high-stakes game of escalating dares. Four teens each have their own reasons for wanting the prize--and for engaging in increasingly outrageous activities to get it. This debut is pretty light on redeeming literary qualities, but its provocative premise might hook reluctant teen readers looking for a diverting summer read.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA In 1926, sixteen-year-old Kitty finds her college dreams dashed after financial troubles. She impulsively gets a job as a Harvey Girl, a waitress in restaurants along the railroad, which takes Kitty on an adventure far from home, proving useful fodder for her budding career in journalism. Meyer's historical drama is well crafted if dull at times. An author's note is appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA "My breath caught in my throat. Io didn't believe in the Translations?" When Starbird leaves the Free Family Farm commune to work at the cult's cafe, she begins to uncover details about the life she shares with her Family that some members would rather remained hidden. An unwitting catalyst, Starbird's voice remains strong as her worldview begins to change.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(2) YA When a café patron leaves eighteen-year-old Indigo a two-and-a-half-million-dollar tip, she discovers that money really does change everything--and everyone. Indigo's first-person narration is filled with clever detail, sharp wit, and madcap scenes. Readers will be enthralled by Indigo's personality, her way with words, and how she turns her misfortune back into good luck.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(3) YA Geena's sure that working as a barista with her best friend, Amber, and favorite cousin, Hero, will make for the perfect summer. The only problem? Amber and Hero hate each other. Witty narration about lovelorn characters combines with realistically banal conversations in this Much Ado About Nothing–inspired story that's as satisfyingly frothy as one of Geena's cappuccino creations.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) YA Fleur, Ronnie, and Claude decide the best way to fix their rocky friendship is to spend the summer waitressing at a posh resort hotel. There the girls encounter their nemesis and enter a beauty contest. Though many aspects of this novel are hard to buy and the secondary characters are mere caricatures, readers will appreciate the honest look at friendship.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Bowers. Customers at Burt's Diner overlook Matilda's slipshod waitressing because they love her stories. However, the health inspector disapproves, and he serves the diner with numerous citations. He changes his tune after Matilda foils a robbery. The folksy Western style is amusing, though the dropped g's ("duelin' pirates," "mixin' up orders") get to be a bit much. Vigorous illustrations mirror Matilda's enthusiasm.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Hope takes pride in her job: she's a short-order waitress who has come from Brooklyn with her aunt Addie to run a diner in Wisconsin, its proprietor sidelined by leukemia. Addie and Hope, long peripatetic, find a new life in Wisconsin as well as a cause: the diner's owner takes on the corrupt mayor in an upcoming election. And Hope's tentative romance with the cook is sweet indeed. The story's humor is warm and real.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(4) YA As Jaime struggles through the summer after high school graduation, she's determined to leave behind her life as a girl as she takes a double waitressing shift to earn back the college tuition her father stole from her. Her attempt to start fresh is hindered by a passionate romance with bad-boy Buddy. The action sometimes feels surreal, but Mosier's prose is rich with detail, and her honest tone gives this bittersweet coming-of-age novel a feeling of authenticity.

Reviewer: Alvina Ling