Charlie Healey thinks Harmony Falls is the beginning of a whole new life. Middle School was brutal. Mean girls were all around her. But High School’s going to be Charlie’s big chance to start over and stay out of drama, except that on her first day who does she run into? None other than Will, her ex-best friend, who had moved away. Now he’s back, looking a lot cuter and hanging out with a questionable crew. But Charlie doesn’t understand just how questionable until an innocent delivery guy falls victim to a near-deadly hazing prank.
All Charlie wanted to do was have a drama-free freshman year, but now she must decide whether to turn in her very best friend, who just told her he loves her, or live with the guilt of knowing what he did.
If you don’t know, Rosalind Wiseman is the author of the book Queen Bees & Wannabes, which is the book that inspired Tina Fey to write the movie, Mean Girls. And I think that movie is hilarious. But that’s because Tina Fey is an awesome comedian.
Rosalind’s first foray into fiction was good and interesting, but a bit dry. It comes across as more of a morality tale, a how-to for teens in a certain situation than a portrayal of what really happens with youth now-a-days. It’s a fairytale – if kids thought things out and used logic instead of their rioting emotions (as they are won’t to do) then life would be peachy-keen. But life isn’t always like that. Still – it was a satisfying read because I’m sick of teenagers making dumb decisions and making things more difficult for themselves.
Charlie and her friends were upfront with each other and that was refreshing. An example of this is when Charlie finds out that this guy she liked asked her friend out to this dance. Charlie got jealous, understandably and confronts her friend about it. Her friend tells her why she didn’t say anything at first and that she really is not interested in the guy and I was cheering when that scene worked itself out. Like how easy is it for a girl to stew in silence FOREVER when something like that happens in high school?
The conflict in this book revolves around the In Crowd (supported by the principal) and the rest of the student body. The varsity members of the lacrosse team are basically the in crowd and run the school – and one of their pranks turns very deadly and Charlie refuses to let her friend Will get caught up in that drama.
I didn’t even mind that the characters are only freshmen. I admit I prefer older teenagers in my YA, but it was good to get to the beginning. It reminded me of when I was a freshmen and how my own school was. 😛
Final Grade: B – it’s no Mean Girls, but it’s ok.
