Lizzie McGuire: Fashionably Lizzie

Hilary Duff's relationship with Disney is so yesterday. But this zeitgeist-in-a-bottle Disney Channel series captures--with a distinctive voice and pitch-perfect ear--adolescent angst through the eyes of a self-described "typical 13-year-old" (who is anything but). Duff became a ‘tween-age sensation as pop culture icon Lizzie, who is pretty, bright, off-center, and steadfastly true to herself despite social and peer pressures. Whereas The Wonder Years employed a narrator to express the main character's innermost feelings, Lizzie's inner voice is imaginatively conveyed through a lookalike animated alter ego. In the first of this collection's four episodes, Lizzie finds that being famous doesn't bring happiness, after a modeling stint alienates her from her star-struck friends. Next, in a ploy to win her school's Best Dressed contest, the normally levelheaded Lizzie goes behind her mother's back to buy an expensive outfit. In the third episode, Lizzie is bedeviled by an idolizing "sevvie" (seventh grader) who transforms herself into a mini-Lizzie. The final episode explores Lizzie's struggle to balance being feminine with her fitness prowess, which earns her a reputation as a sports-playing "dude." Parents will appreciate that this series is refreshingly respectful toward adult and authority figures. Lizzie's role-model status is perhaps best summed up by her friend Gordo: "I don't think she cares what people think, and I think that's cool." Recommended. [Note: the compilations Growing Up Lizzie, Star Struck, and Totally Crushed are also newly available at the same prices.] Aud: P. (D. Liebenson)