In Ann Valett’s young adult novel, Clique Bait, Chloe Whittaker wants nothing more than to avenge her friend Monica who suffered a cruel fate when she got involved with the most popular kids at their high school. Chloe wants to get revenge and she comes up with a scheme to join the popular kids’ rank.
At Chloe’s high school, which is filled with rich kids with famous and powerful parents, there are five levels at the school. You don’t want to be at level five, which is filled with the school’s freshman and social pariahs. It’s level one where the students aspire to be, and it’s a very exclusive clique.
But Chloe figures out how to infiltrate the Level Ones by blackmailing one of its members, William Bishop, into dating her. How does she do it? She tells William, or Will as he goes by, that she knows that his father, the mayor, is up to know good. If he doesn’t date her, Chloe will make his father’s nefarious actions public.
Wanting to protect his father, Will goes along. Chloe and Will pretend to be a true blue couple, and soon Chloe is hanging out with the most popular kids at the school. The Level Ones include Zack, the stereotypical dumb jock, Lola, the Queen Bee who must be obeyed, Sophie, the one who makes sure everyone is following the rules, Sophie’s twin Francis who has a secret, and Maddy, who is a bit of an airhead. They begrudgingly accept Chloe and soon she is caught up in their whirlwind of parties, drinking, designer fashion, and backstabbing gossip and behavior. And like any young adult novel, Chloe starts to have feelings for Will even though he’s supposed to be the enemy. And Will starts to have feelings for Chloe even though it wasn’t long ago that she was not anywhere near his level of popularity and status.
Now that she’s hanging out with the Level Ones, Chloe gets to see that not all that glitters is gold. There is romantic entanglements worthy of a soap opera, one girl is struggling with alcohol addiction, and one boy is deeply in the closet. And where are the parents of these teenagers? Other than Chloe’s mom, most of them seem to be too self-involved and caught up in their own shenanigans to give a crap about their own offspring. And Chloe is certain her father is cheating on her mother.
Chloe goes through several transformations to fit into the Level Ones. She completely changes her look, switching jeans and t-shirts for designer frocks and high heels. She attends parties and drinks a lot. She hangs out at the mall when she used to be satisfied with reading a good book. She hates the Level Ones (despite getting the feels for Will) and goes to great lengths to avenge Monica. And these lengths goes into territory Chloe probably would have eschewed ages ago-blackmailing, spreading gossip, ignoring her school work, breaking into a person’s house, and outing someone’s homosexuality.
Though Clique Bait was an entertaining read, I could help but wonder why Chloe was so hellbent on getting revenge for her friend Monica. Yes, Monica dealt with a horrible fate at the hands of the Level Ones, but she also abandoned Chloe once she became popular. Why would Chloe be so hung up on Monica that she would write letters to her that she never sent?
Well, Chloe is a teenager and in high school. When you are that age friendship, popularity, and social caste are of utmost importance. Though I was often think Chloe and the Level Ones were beyond obnoxious (other than Maddy, though despite being a bit dim, seemed very sweet), I still enjoyed reading Clique Bait and I think it would be enjoyed by younger readers.
In the YA novel Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, Vivian Carter seems like your average teen. She lives in East Rockport, Texas with her single mom who works as a nurse (Viv’s dad died when she was an infant), and she’s close to her grandparents who live next door. She’s a good student and a good girl. And she’s also really pissed off.
East Rockport High School is run by the football players, namely Mitchell Wilson who is also the principal’s son. For one thing, the football team gets most of the district’s money, leaving other school activities begging for crumbs.
Beyond that, nay of these jocks are beyond obnoxious. They wear t-shirts with sexist and offensive sayings. They harass the girls in class and accost them in the halls. And the powers that be just write it off as “boys will be boys.”
Viv has had enough, and she suspects so have many other girls at East Rockport. Viv knows she has to do something, but what?
Back in the 1990s, Viv’s mom was a riot grrrl, a rocking time of Generation X- 3rd wave feminism. She even has a box of riot grrrl memories called “My Misspent Youth.” Viv has perused this box on many occasions. And it inspires her to create a feminist zine called “Moxie.”
Viv anonymously distributes “Moxie” throughout the school. It captures the eyeballs and energy of her fellow female classmates. Before you can say “Kathleen Hanna,” “Moxie” and its mission take over East Rockport High School. Turns out Viv isn’t the only one who is pissed off.
Viv and many other girls start to stand up for themselves. They call out the boys for their sexist behavior and hold a bake sale to raise money for the girls’ soccer team.
But there are stumbling blocks in the way. The principal isn’t happy and threatens to expel the girls. And Viv’s mom is dating a man she isn’t too keen on (he’s a Republican).
But Viv gains more confidence in her “Moxie” endeavors and grows stronger. She becomes closer to her bestie, Claudia, and makes friends with a cool new girl named Lucy. Viv also starts dating a boy named Seth who is a welcome reprieve from all the jerky boys at school.
I loved how Vivian was so relatable, at first reserved to being quite the bad ass, believing in herself and the fight against misogyny.
The dialogue in Moxie in natural and conversational. All the relationship, familial, friendship, and romantic ring true. And I really appreciate how the girls supported each other and their for equality. Moxie is the anti-Mean Girls, and that’s what makes it so powerful whether you’re a member of Gen Z discovering feminism or a Gen X-er who gets misty-eyed listening to Bikini Kill.
Not too long ago, the lovely people from Eventbrite burned up some cyberspace and contacted me on writing about my ideal book panel discussion featuring my favorite authors and/or characters. I Googled Eventbrite to see if it was legit or not. Looking pretty darn legit, I quickly contacted them and said I’d love to do it, just give me some time to figure out what authors and/or characters I’d like to have on my panel.
Saying yes to this project was the easy part…coming up with authors and characters was quite another. There are so many authors and characters I adore and nearly worship. I would need a round table as large as Lambeau Field to house them all. What authors and characters do I pick? There are times when just picking out what earrings to wear on a particular day is a monumental task.
First I decided to pick authors only. And then I decided the authors would all be women. This is no slap at the male authors I adore or men in general. It’s just four authors popped into my lady brain and they just happened to be women.
Dorothy Parker
Judy Blume
Caitlin Moran
Roxane Gay
What else does a panel discussion need? Well, moderators, of course! We can’t let this discussion run amok, right? Now who would I choose to moderate (well, besides me, of course). I immediately thought of my favorite journalist, Bill Moyers, a lovely gentleman whose curious, thoughtful and empathetic interviewing style would be perfect for this panel and our sure to be scintillating discussion.
Afterward the panel discussion I’d host a post-discussion casual meet and greet for the authors and the audience. I’ll even bring snacks.
Following are the principle players in the Book Self’s First Women of Words: A Celebration (and Potluck).
Moderators: Bill Moyers-see pic (and me, of course)
Audience: Men and women who love to read (and maybe even write). I’d pretty much invite fellow bookworms who have a mad love of the written word.
Special VIPs: My mom who got me to read in the first place and introduced me to the wonders of libraries and book stores. My friends, both in my off-line universe, and those I adore via the Internet. They include long-time friends Nora and Elaine Takagi, Jen Locke, Rosie Blythe, Cobalt Stargazer and Tari. I chose these ladies because they are talented writers who have written guest reviews at both my blogs, have blogs themselves and are just incredibly talented writers as a whole.
As for the potluck I’m providing post-discussion and during the meet and greet? Well, I’d offer various types of cookies and brownies, including my treasured sugar mint cookies and dark chocolate brownies with a sea salt caramel glaze, chocolate chip cake, zesty pretzels, various chips and dips including my goat cheese dip, veggie with dill dip, guacamole, hummus and salsa, fruit and veggie platters, a tasty cheese plate with homemade crackers, and various liquid refreshments including my mom’s Brandy Smash.
As I mentioned, I selected four distinct ladies of letters-Judy Blume, Dorothy Parker, Roxane Gay and Caitlin Moran. The following are reasons why I want them on my panel:
How could I not have my discussion and not feature Judy Blume? When I was a mere lass feeling like a 4th grade nothing, battered by bullying, confused by puberty, and vowing to never name my future male offspring Ralph, Judy was the Man…I mean Woman!!! Whereas other writers wrote about tweens and teens in a way that were both saccharine and unrealistic, Judy wrote about the adolescent experience in realistic ways, which never sugarcoated the issues we faced whether it was getting our periods, sex and masturbation, schoolyard bullying, family strife, religion and social issues. She knew these distinct moments in our lives were of monumental importance and treated the topics and her readers with so much respect.
No panel discussion of mine would be complete with the ghost of Dorothy Parker, whose poetry continues to inspire me. However, I must admit I was initially not a fan of Parker’s. I first heard of Parker when, as an insecure, bespectacled pre-teen, I read her line saying, “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.” Stomping in my Nike sneakers, I thought to myself, “What a mean lady!” But it wasn’t long before I realized the Divine Dorothy was just being snarky and probably pitying those men who didn’t quite get the erotic allure of a girl in glasses. I’m now a huge fan of Parker’s and I consider her to be the patron saint of all witty women too smart for their damn good. How could I not invite her to Women of Words.? You know she’d have plenty to say, and she’d love the Brandy Smash!
Then there are two of my favorite writers I have recently grown to appreciate who are not only fabulous writers, but who are also very proud to claim the word feminist. These women are Roxane Gay and Caitlin Moran. Both of these women write about the female experience, with clarity, wisdom and richness fully capturing the beauty and ugliness of what it means to be a female in the 21st century. Both Bay and Caitlin have written non-fiction and fictional books that are near and dear to my heart. Both Gay’s collection of short stories in Difficult Women and Moran’s novel How to Build a Girl received rave reviews by the Book Self. And their individual collection of essays, Bad Feminist and Moranifesto are two feminist-minded must-reads.
This discussion could also be a way for Gay to promote her memoir Hunger, which chronicles her experience as a survivor of a gang rape and how it led her to using food as an escape, comfort and shield. Interestingly enough, in Moranifesto Moran tells men two things they need to know about women one is we fear them, that they will hurt us physically, sexually, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. This topic alone could make for a very intriguing and mind-blowing discussion.
However, I want this to be so much more! So even though I want this to be a free floating discussion of writing, I also have some questions Moyers and I could throw out to the panel. They are as follows:
What did they read when they were little girls and why?
When did they start to write and why? What did they write? Who are their favorite authors and books from their girlhood to today? Who are these authors and books and authors their favorites?
When did they realize writing was their vocation?
What inspires them to write?
Describe their version of writer’s block. How do they cope with writer’s block?
Describe the good, bad and the ugly of being writers, especially women writers.
Describe what it is like to write non-fiction, fiction, poetry, journalistic features, and so on, both the similarities and the differences.
What is the one book they wish they wrote?
Discuss their future plans.
Advice for writers.
After the panel discussion we’d have a Q & A session where the audience gets to ask the panel their own questions.
Later, we’d sum up the occasion with a casual meet and greet/potluck. However, we’d have to tell Dorothy Parker she has to smoke outside and keep her from bogarting the Brandy Smash.
I must admit I had fun writing this and I’m so happy Eventbrite asked me to be a part of this. I also realized there is so much I want to discuss with these ladies that it might take up more than one session. We could make this a week-end event!
Eventbrite offers great book-related events all over. If you ‘d like to find a book event near you check out this registration online tool.
In her “Fine Lines” column on the website Jezebel, Lizzie Skurnick re-read many of the novels she loved as a young girl, looking at them through the eyes of an adult. Now many of these (somewhat altered) essays are in book form in Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading. Ms. Skurnick is no stranger to young adult books. Not only is she a reader but she’s also a writer of some of the Sweet Valley High books. She also brings along writers like Meg Cabot, Jennifer Weiner and Cecily von Ziegesar for the ride down memory lane.
Shelf Discovery does not cover the books we had to read for school, books by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Eyre and Austen. No, this book covers the books that weren’t on any teacher-approved reading list. These are the books that kept us up long after our bed time or the books we hid behind our text books during social studies. These are the books we loaned to our friends only to get them back with tattered covers and dog-eared pages. Well, at least this happened to me when I loaned my copy of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by uber-goddess Judy Blume to all my friends in Miss Wilson’s fifth grade class.
Not surprisingly, Judy Blume’s books are reviewed in Shelf Discovery as are the Little House books. Skurnick also takes a look back at books like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene, The Cat Ate My Gym Suit by Paula Danziger and I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier. Shelf Discovery covers books that were considered too old for us but we read them anyway like Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear and VC Andrew’s My Sweet Audrina. And books that I thought only I had read like To All My Fans With Love, From Sylvie by Ellen Conford and To Take a Dare by Paul Zindel and Crescent Dragonwagon are also covered.
These essays are thoughtful, reflective and funny, and brought back a lot of memories. Not only of reading these books, but also how they made me feel and how they inspired talk among my gaggle of girlfriends. I loved reading the Little House books, feeling some cheesehead pride because Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in Wisconsin. And I was quite comforted to know I wasn’t only the one who found Laura’s sister Mary an insufferable prissy-pants though I never went as far as to call her a “fucking bitch” like Skurnick does.
And where would we be without Judy Blume? Sure, some people want to ban her books, but to most of us, we loved Judy Blume because she introduced us to characters we could actually relate to. These were characters who experienced divorce or the death of a parent. They dealt with sexism, favored siblings and peer pressue. They questioned religion. They also dealt with the difficulties of growing up, physically, mentally and emotionally. Blume did not hesitate to make her main characters somewhat unlikable such as the protagonist in Blubber, Jill, who bullies Linda for being fat. And then there was Tony from Then Again, Maybe I Won’t who spied on his friend’s hot sister with his binoculars. What a perv!!!
Long before Gossip Girl, the books covered in Shelf Discovery introduced us to the world of S.E.X! Forever proved a girl could have sex and not get pregnant the first time or become a raving lunatic. It also kept generations of women from naming their male offspring Ralph. Wifey totally had a dirty mind. Flowers in the Attic introduced us the idea of brother/sister sex long before the Jerry Springer Show. And Katy Perry may have thought she was so lesbian chic when she sang, “I Kissed a Girl” but Jaret and Peggy were getting it on thirty years earlier in Sandra Scoppetone’s Happy Endings Are All Alike.
I’m not familiar with all of the books featured in Shelf-Discovery, but many of you might be. And I’m also not a fan of some of the books I did read. I wanted to fling Go Ask Alice across my teen-age bedroom. Even back then I knew it was a load of shite, and Go Ask Alice, which was allegedly based on the real diary of a teen girl messed up on drugs, was debunked several years ago.
I was also amazed to find out that many of the books we enjoyed as kids are now being enjoyed by today’s kids. Sure, kids have their Harry Potter and their Twilight books, but Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret also resonates with them. While visiting Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, Meg Cabot sheepishly tells the girls she is re-reading the Judy Blume classic. She expected blank stares from the students, but instead she got thunderous applause and cheers. Even though these girls live half a world away from suburban New Jersey, they totally adore Margaret. I still adore Margaret.
Reading Shelf Discovery reminded me why books always meant so much to me growing up (and still do). How fun was Sally J Freedman? And was I the only one who though Rosemary from Sister of the Bride was way too young to get married? But at least my mom and dad never sent me off to boarding school to die like the awful parents in The Grounding of Group 6. If you’re looking for a literary walk down memory lane and more than “seven minutes in heaven” you can’t go wrong with Shelf Discovery.
Music sales are lagging. Record stores are becoming extinct. And the music in MTV has been replaced by various reality TV shows. The state of music is quite uncertain, which leads me to wonder: Do today’s teenagers obsess over music the ways teenagers did in the past?
Allie, the teenage protagonist of Yvonne Prinz’s young adult novel The Vinyl Princess does. She works at Bob & Bob Records in Berkeley, one of the last hold-outs of independent record stores.While her peers fill their iPods with the latest releases, Allie prefers the romance of putting a needle on the record’s groove and cherishes her massive vinyl collection.
She is also a walking encyclopedia of musical knowledge. Name a Beatles’ song, and she knows exactly what album it’s on. Allie puts her knowledge to good use (and not to mention, her access to all the great music at Bob & Bob), and starts her own music blog and hard copy zine, aptly titled The Vinyl Princess.
She blogs about vintage LPs and the tangibility of records. “I love the look of vinyl, the smell of it, the tiny crackles you hear before a song starts.” And others agree with her – before long her fan base grows, wanting her opinion on everything from David Bowie to the perfect music mixes.
Meanwhile, beleaguered store owner Bob (there is only one Bob) claims he’s going to shut down because people prefer to download music. Plus, a string of neighborhood robberies has him worried that Bob & Bob will be next.
Allie’s personal life also hangs in the balance. Her parents are divorced. Her dad’s new wife (barely older than Allie) is pregnant, and her mom is dipping her toes into the world of online dating. Allie has boy troubles of her own — she has serious thing for the mysterious Joel who often visits the store, but whose intentions may or may not be sinister in nature. Then there is Zach, who brings Allie homemade music mixes, and tries to fill her brain with new musical facts. Guess which boy she likes better?
As summer unfolds, Allie realizes she’s going to have to embrace some pretty huge changes, both personally and at work. But will hard-won maturity come at the end?
While reading The Vinyl Princess, I kept forgetting that it was a young adult novel. Prinz never talks down to her audience, respecting them no matter what generation they got slid into. Being into music makes Allie a cool girl — her love and knowledge of music was infectious, and her real-life problems rang very true.
The depiction of Allie’s blog was a bit unbelievable. It became hugely successful overnight, and within a couple of months a business wants to buy it. To anyone with a blog, this is quite unrealistic. It takes a very long time to get an audience in the blogospshere, and some of the best out there get ignored for absolute dreck.
Still, my complaints are minor. Allie is the kind of teenage girl character that needs to be represented more in pop culture: smart, relatable and interesting. The Vinyl Princess’s crown may be a bit tarnished, but it still royally rocks.
Netflix is has optioned the Lemony Snicket books for its TV show streaming series.
Thirteen places to put you in the mood for reading (yea, like most of us have to be put in the mood for reading).
If I had a daughter, I’d hope she’d be cool as Tavi Gevinson. And I really like her term “Feminist-Creative.”
Could we possibly have the chance to read a “new” book by the late John Steinbeck ? We just might!
As a child I was besotted with the “Little House” books, but as an adult, I learned the books were not all they seemed. Now the true story of Laura Ingalls and her family has been released.
Just wrote a book? Ask yourself these three questions before you write a book proposal.
Erotic books that don’t suck like Fifty Shades of Grey.
Hmm, as if I don’t have enough books to read. Wait. I could never have enough books to read.
Can you take another link about Amy Poehler? Well, you’re going to have to. Fifteen awesome quotes from Amy’s book Yes, Please.
Where would generations of women be without Judy Blume? Sure, some people wanted to ban her books, but I loved Judy Blume because she wrote about characters I could actually relate to. Blume’s characters dealt with divorce, death, family strife, religion, sex, bullying and peer pressure. But most of all Blume’s characters dealt with the difficulties of growing up: physically, emotionally and mentally. Blume didn’t sugar-coat these difficulties nor did she patronize the reader. And that’s why one of my favorite books is her 1970 classic Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Margaret Simon is the title character. She’s 12 years old and just moved to suburban New Jersey. She’s worried about starting a new school, making friends and other assorted growing pains. She soon befriends three girls: Nancy, Gretchen and Janie. Together they gossip, talk about boys, wonder when they’ll get their periods and practice breast development exercises, chanting, “We must, we must, we must increase our bust.”
Margaret has other important things on her mind beyond growing out of a training bra and needing a box of Kotex. Margaret has questions about religion, questions that can’t easily be answered. Her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish. But what is Margaret? According to her friends, she has to pick one of the other so she can join either the YMCA or the Jewish Community Center.
Margaret’s paternal grandmother calls her granddaughter “My Jewish girl” and takes Margaret to synagogue. Margaret’s estranged maternal grandparents are convinced Margaret is Christian. Margaret even tries to go to confession at a Catholic church. But all this leaves Margaret confused, and she gets angry with God. Eventually she begins to accept the messy realities of growing up, though Blume refuses to tie up Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret in a tidy little bow.
My mother gave me a copy of the book when I was ten. I was the only girl in my fifth grade class to get my hands on a copy and soon my classmates asked to borrow it. By the time I got it back, the book was pretty much in tatters, widely read and hugely loved.
It’s been ages since I read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret but it still resonates with me. To this day I can remember Gretchen was the first of Margaret’s girl tribe to get her period, and all the girls want to mack on Philip Leroy during “7 Minutes in Heaven.” And before “Sex and the City” gave me the term “frenemy” I knew Nancy was kind of a bitch even though she was supposed to be Margaret’s friend. And poor Janie (spoiler alert); she was the last of Margaret’s coterie to get her period. The horror!
As for, those breast enhancing exercises where you chant, “We must, we must, we must increase our bust.” Well, they don’t work. You know I tried, okay!
I hope today’s girls like Margaret like I did. Sure, girls have Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen these days, but I also hope they have a Margaret Simon. Her appeal is enduring and universal, no matter what generation you got slid into.
Are you there, Judy? It’s me, Bookish Jen. Thank you.
If I had a kid who was not obsessed with books, I hope I’d be as opened-minded as this mom.
“Gilmore Girls” inspires reading challenge. After reading this feature, I’m kicking myself for not watching “Gilmore Girls.” Rory sounds like such a cool character. I must binge watch the DVDs.
BJ Novak, yep, Ryan the Temp from The Office, hopes his children’s book, The Book With No Pictures, gets kids hooked on literature.
John Oliver of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” wonders why Ayn Rand is still a “thing.” Hmm, I’ve been pondering the same thing.
The film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s hugely successful novel Gone Girl is tops at the box office.
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