Airhead

when superbrain meets supermodel...

Airhead is a young-adult novel by Meg Cabot. It was released on May 13, 2008. The sequel, titled Being Nikki, was released in May 2009.

The book is about a teenage girl whose life is forever changed by the tragic accident that leaves her taking the identity of a supermodel. Thrown into a completely unfamiliar world, she's forced to hide her old identity in order to personify her current one.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old tomboy and anti-materialist Emerson Watts accompanies her sister Frida and her best friend Christopher to a Stark Megastore opening in SoHo, which is attended by the teen supermodel, Nikki Howard. In addition to Howard's celebrity presence, the British heartthrob, singer and songwriter Gabriel Luna makes an appearance. On that fateful day, Em gallantly saves Frida from being hit by a plasma screen crashing down, and takes the hit herself.

A month later, Em finds herself in the hospital, trying to recall what had happened. She tries to remember the events that went on during the last month, and Em finds out that not only did she die during the accident, but incidentally Nikki Howard had also suffered a fatality as well. Unknown to and without her permission, her brain is transplanted into Nikki's brain-dead body. In an effort to save Em, her parents had agreed to a controversial brain transplant surgery offered free by Stark Industries, on condition that Em continues Nikki's career as the face of Stark Industries. From then on, Em is forced to live the high life while concealing her real identity or be faced with the contract penalty of two million dollars.

Em is forced to take on the role of Nikki Howard, all the while struggling with the fact that she does not have control over her life. She tries to let go of her tomboyish ways to take over the highly glamorous life that Nikki had lived. Although she is now dealing with Nikki's job, Nikki's friend Lulu and many boyfriends, she still fights to keep some of her old life by going back to school, also to face Christopher, on whom she has a secret crush. As Em follows through with Nikki's commitments(photo shoots, interviews, etc.), she realizes that the supermodel lifestyle is a lot harder than she perceived it to be.