Spectacular Girls: Media Fascination & Celebrity Culture. Sarah Projansky, New York: New York University Press, 2014. 308 pp. $24 pbk.Sarah Projansky, professor of film and media arts and gender studies at the University of Utah, is also author of Watching Rape: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture and is no stranger to topics of media and the public fascination with girls. Here, she focuses on the spectacularization of girls, or how the media makes some girls stand out as noteworthy while belittling others. Projansky focuses on high-profile girls in the media by following this dichotomy, that is, she categorizes them as the can-do girl or the at-risk girl, a distinction originally laid out by scholar Anita Harris. Projansky upholds this classification and, through both a critical feminist and media studies lens, reviews how twenty-first-century media makes these girls a spectacle.Referring to her line of study as Feminist girls media studies, Projansky focuses on the relationship between girls and media. The book provides ample support for her chosen approaches, theories, and opinions. Indeed, the book is well-written and prolifically sourced, which begs the question: for whom the book is intended?Herein lies the book's most substantial problem: the subject matter and uses of popular references and pop-culture icons make it an interesting topic for a mother or daughter's pleasure reading. However, the manner in which it is written as well as the assumptions it makes about what the reader already knows (foundational knowledge of feminist theory and major contributors to the field) render the book only suitable as course reading in higher level university classes.In fact, Projansky relies on her audience's baseline understanding of feminist theory- anyone familiar with the subject will recognize the names Mary Pipher, Carol Gilligan, and Angela McRobbie. However, that is not to say the entire book is a reflection on past work. After a lengthy introductory chapter, complete with an overly thorough outline of what is to come, the book presents chapters on a diversity of media subjects ranging from the more general television and movies, to the more specific topic of queer African American girls. Here, she writes about media for a critical feminist audience and relating back to the foremothers of the field.Beginning with Chapter One, Projansky discusses what she refers to as Pint-sized and precious girl stars in film history. This chapter reviews the paramount role white girl film stars play in our society's media culture and takes the reader through film history highlighting notable girl stars like Tatum O'Neal. In a lengthy process, Projansky connects girl film stars with scandal and sexuality in a way that defines the girl star by the media's own star system.In Chapter Two, Projansky examines mass magazine cover girls. Here, the author conducted an empirical review on every Time, Newsweek, and People magazines' cover from January 1990 to July 2012. …