FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I'D NEVER WALKED OUT OF A STORE WEARING
A PAIR OF EXPENSIVE JEANS UNDER MY PANTS
- UNTIL THAT DAY…

As we walked toward the dressing rooms with our armloads of pants, Julie said under her breath, "Try on all three and decide which are the ones you want, okay?" I was pretty sure it was going to be the regular blue Fiorucci jeans. Oh my God, I suddenly thought, getting excited, I'm gonna have a brand-new pair of Fiorucci jeans for free! I tried to my hide my nervousness. I mean, it wasn't like I hadn't done it before. I'd done it once or twice. Only, it was just little stuff, like candy or lipstick from Woolworth's.

So opens KLEPTO, the essentially true and occasionally fictionalized novel about first-time author Jenny Pollack and her best friend's whirlwind tour of New York City's clothing stores like Bloomie's, Sak's, Canal Jeans and Betsey Johnson and their felonious quest for designer jeans, vintage bowling shirts and fishnet stockings. In the 1980's Jenny and her cool new best friend, both students at New York's prestigious High School of Performing Arts formed a bond that survives to this day - even after their exploits were long over and atoned for. A perfect tale for teens or for anyone who lived through the 1980's, Klepto will be on store shelves on March 2, 2006.

Jenny Pollack's fresh and funny debut novel began life as the actress' one woman show, Goodnight Diary. It's about a lot of things that cannot be bought, and never stolen, especially true friendship-in all of its messy, beautiful complexity. She has not shoplifted since the 1980's and currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband Rob, son Charlie and their two cats Mike and Harry.

For a copy of Klepto or to schedule an interview with Ms. Pollack please contact Mona Finston 212-724-6117 or mfinstonpr@earthlink.net

On Sale: March 2, 2006. ISBN: 0-670-06061-5 Price: $16.99 ($24.00 CAN)
Ages: 12 up; and 35 up
Viking Children's Books -- A Division of Penguin Young Readers Group