If you ever fantasized about scoring a "Jake Ryan" like Molly Ringwald's character did when she turned 16, then you'll appreciate Ernessa T. Carter's debut novel 32 Candles. It's about an ugly ducking called Davie from Mississippi who becomes the swan she always dreamed of and meets up again with her prince. The summary says: "Davie is positive her life couldn't be any worse. She has the meanest mother in the South, possibly the world, and to top everything off, she's pretty sure she's ugly. Just when she's resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life - Sixteen Candles. She starts picturing her own fairytale ending (where the girl manages to surmount all obstacles of class, status, and adolescent awkwardness to get the boy at the end of a story) but in her case life isn't imitating art. Tortured endlessly in school with the nickname "Monkey Night," and hopelessly in unrequited love with a handsome football player, James Farrell, Davie finds that it is a bittersweet thing to dream of Molly Ringwald endings. When a cruel school prank goes too far, Davie decides to leave the life she knows, and to try to reinvent herself in the glittery world of Hollywood. And she does - as a beautiful and successful lounge singer in a swanky Los Angeles nightclub. Davie is finally a million miles from where she started - until she bumps into her high school obsession, James Farrell. To Davie's astonishment, James doesn't recognise her, and she can't bring herself to end the fantasy, letting him fall as hopelessly in love with her as she once was with him. But is life ever that simple? Just as they're about to ride off into the sunset, the past comes back with a vengeance, threatening to crush Davie's dreams . . . and break her heart again." Carter, who says she wanted to write a book for the underdogs with superheroes hidden inside, blogs at www.fierceandnerdy.com. The story has been optioned for movie development by Miramax.

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