Ann Philips (Children's Literature)
When their no-fun parents won't allow Ronnie, Claude, and Fleur to attend a nearby music festival, the fourteen-year-old decides to produce a concert at their school. Soon the LBD (Les Bambinos Dangereuses) find themselves grappling with an uptight headmaster, cutthroat contestants, and financial ruin. Meanwhile main character Ronnie mopes over unattainable guitarist Jimi. After a frantically busy week, Ronnie realizes that her mother has moved out. This is shattering, but Claude and Fleur patch her up with news of huge ticket sales. With the help of their not-so-hopeless dads, hot lads from across town, and a mysterious stranger, they pull off a smashing concert. Ronnie's parents and Jimi all come to their senses and mend Ronnie's heart. This boisterous "chick lit" is redeemed by skillful comic writing and creative insults ("She's two chicken wings short of a buffet.").With a light touch, Dent exposes the fickleness of boys and parents and the stunning ruthlessness of teen rivalry. U.S. teens will soon get the gist of the British slang and begin wittering on, snogging, and laughing like drains. 2003, Penguin Putnam, $15.99. Ages 12 to Adult.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 16))
Stymied from attending the Astlebury Music Festival by their parents, three British girls in Year 9-they call themselves Les Bambinos Dangereuses-decide to have their own. Surprisingly, they garner permission from the headmaster to host Blackwell Live. At first, this is relentlessly hip and snide as Ronnie, short for Veronica Ripperton, introduces her parents, her friends, her crushes, and her music. Fleur is a gorgeous boy magnet, with snogging (twirly tongues and all) usually leading to heartbreak. Claude, short for Claudette, is an angelic-looking overachiever with a penchant for getting the other girls into trouble. About midpoint when the characters have been introduced and the plans for the festival are rolling, the subplot of Ronnie's bickering parents gets more focus and the aggravating slang lightens up to make the second half more enjoyable. A Rennison imitation, or in LBD terms, not quite as big a "fat sack of flatulent poo-flavored mess" as it starts out to be. 2003, Putnam, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, September 2003 (Vol. 37, No. 5))
Here is another engagingly wacky narrator from Great Britain--think of the Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison--created by a contributor to British teen magazines and column writer for the Guardian and More! magazine. Dent seems totally comfortable with her teenage characters, and their style, language, and interests. LBD, by the way, stands for Les Bambinos Dangereuses, three girlfriends, one of whom is Ronnie (Veronica), the narrator of this tale. The girls fail to get permission from their parents to attend a rock festival that would entail their staying overnight, so instead they plan a festival at their school, which turns out to be wildly successful. All of this happens quickly, within days, and Ronnie tells about everything--parents, clothes, teachers, boyfriends, hopes and fears--at a mad pace, with brutal honesty. She talks like this: "Lawrence "Loz" Ripperton (aka "Dad" or "Keeper of the Wallet") doesn't like arguing. He's all about peace and love, is my old man. It's a good job really, as in our household: 1) I quite enjoy a good row and 2) Mum positively relishes a proper bust-up." One of the LBD is Fleur, who is gorgeous and has boys always interested in her. The other LBD is Claude (Claudette), a successful student who manages to hide her pranks behind her wonderful reputation. The antics the three get up to are harmless, really, and for all their talk, the girls actually have very little interest in sex beyond "snogging" (kissing) their boyfriends. This will be a big hit with all the readers who enjoy madcap narratives. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Penguin Putnam, 275p., $15.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Karen Coats (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 3))
It seems that teen angst isn’t so angsty these days, especially when you’ve got fabulous mates and a plan for greatness. The mates are the LBD, short for Les Bambinos Dangereuses, or Ronnie, Claude, and Fleur, three inseparable fourteen-year-old girls whose parents unreasonably refuse to let them spend the night at the Astlebury Snogging, er, Music Festival. The plan is to stage their own music festival featuring local bands, a move that promises to make them the most popular girls in Blackwell School. Meanwhile, it seems as though Ronnie’s parents are splitting up, which is really too inconvenient when she’s got a festival to plan. Not to worry: the festival comes off far better than expected, and the trouble with Ronnie’s parents, an unexpected pregnancy which is obvious to everyone except Ronnie, is resolved when they come to terms with their little surprise. Following in the tradition of Louise Rennison (Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, BCCB 5/00), Dent plays the trials and tribulations of being fourteen--inscrutable parents, equally inscrutable lads, and breasts, buns, and noses that are either too small or too large--for laughs and doesn’t try to cram any life lessons in amongst the drollery. The book drags in the middle as Dent indulges herself in a bit too much atmosphere and not enough plot, but the pace picks up toward the end. As a regular contributor to British teen magazines, Dent has a keen ear for British teen slang and a knack for quotable quips that will make the book worth the price of admission for Anglophile readers. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Putnam, 275p, $15.99. Grades 7-10.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Les Bambinos Dangereuses," a trio of cool, joined-at-the-hip British babes, mastermind a live music festival, tackling the school administration and the giant egos of Catwalk, a dance/pop band headed by bullying Panama. Ronnie, the focus of the story, takes readers past the shallow beginning; her insecurities, family dramas, and nascent romance with hot guitarist Jimi carry the entertaining story. Category: Older Fiction. 2003, Putnam, 277pp, $15.99. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Aimee Lurie (VOYA, October 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 4))
Move over Georgia and Angus, the LBD is taking over! Meet Fleur, Claude, and Ronnie, the sassy and sophisticated fourteen-year-old Brits who comprise the Les Bambinos Dangereuses, otherwise known as the LBD. Banned from attending the ultra-cool Astlebury Music Festival by their parents, the LBD decides to host Blackwell Live, a musical festival to showcase their school's talent, the proceeds going to charity. After winning over their skeptical headmaster and securing financial backing from Fleur's James Bond-obsessed father, the LBD is on their way to planning the party of the year. The road to success is never easy and the LBD encounters many obstacles along the way, namely Blackwell's own diva-in-training, Panama Goodyear, whose group Catwalk is not afraid to commit extortion to get top billing. Nevertheless, in typical LBD style, the girls keep their cool and pull off an unforgettable event. Narrated by Ronnie, the least confident member of the trio, the LBD's story has all the right ingredients for a hit teen novel: larger-than-life protagonists, sparkling dialogue, and enormous teen appeal. Forget booktalking. The controversial cover art-depicting a denim-clad derrière with the t-bar of a thong showing and an LBD tattoo on the upper right cheek-will single-handedly sell this book and possibly raise a few eyebrows in conservative communities. Teen girls will have no trouble relating to Ronnie's insecurities, and the subplot dealing with her mother's departure from home is equally as compelling as the main plot in this strongly recommended purchase. It is a must-buy. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, G. P. Putnam's, 288p, $15.99. Ages 12 to 18.