[3] Popular reactions to the novel in spaces like Amazon were mixed.

[4] The story is about a 14-year-old girl named Holly Faye Lovell from a tiny, rural town called Biscay in the U.S. state of Mississippi.

She is accepted as a scholarship student into the exclusive Haverty School of Performing Arts, and the story revolves around Holly's life in Haverty, where she is the poorest student, and her relationship with her mother, Wanda.

The book was adapted for a 2004 ABC Family television film titled Brave New Girl (the new title comes from a song on Britney's 2003 album In the Zone).

[3] Although the plot was drastically changed, Britney was included as an executive producer of the film.