Those Girls

April 27, 2015
Junior year is starting, and Alex is auditioning for a band, Mollie is taking Plan B, and Veronica is flirting with everyone, teachers included. The three are long-time best friends, but backbiting, secrecy, and trashing are the norm for them; Alex and Mollie have no problem calling Veronica a “slut” to her face, and Veronica is dating Alex’s crush and hooking up with Mollie’s boyfriend. Debut author Saft can be funny, but it isn’t evident how she really feels about the snobbish, drugs-and-alcohol-infused, joylessly sexualized culture she’s portraying. No one is happy, yet the awfulness is normalized in a way that makes an alternative hard to imagine. The girls switch off as narrators, and Saft wants readers to root for them, but it’s not easy (Alex is the most multidimensional, while Mollie and Veronica are reduced to snide and bewildered). It gets even harder when Mollie and Alex do something cruel and dangerous, then essentially get off scot-free. The act is something of a wake-up call about the results of deceiving themselves and others, but it’s too little, too late. Ages 15–up. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit.

April 15, 2015
Three best friends alternate narration of their junior year of high school as they explore sex, romance, and independence. Each teen clearly represents a high school stock character-Alex: tomboy with a secret crush on her best male friend; Veronica: proudly promiscuous; and Mollie: willing to sacrifice her sense of self to keep her athlete boyfriend. Outwardly each teen embraces her role in the trio-Veronica's quick laughter at the slut-shaming jokes her best friends lob at her is actively painful. But the characters transcend stereotypes when their private narrations reveal each girl's discomfort with her assigned social position in the trio and in the school's social hierarchy. Their inner musings about the secret jealousies and hurt feelings that exist among the trio combine with the girls' independent and collective confusion about acceptable sexual roles for women for a disheartening window into modern teens' identity dilemmas. Unfortunately, after creating interesting characters, Saft forces the trio into a soap opera of secret sexual dalliances with one another's boyfriends. Eventually a revenge plot involves two of the girls slipping their friend a roofie, after which she is almost sexually assaulted by a teacher. This chilling attempted sexual violence is too easily dismissed during the girls' quick reconciliation. Saft's debut develops admirably complex characters but then fails to deliver a plot worthy of them. (Fiction. 14-18)

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February 1, 2015

Gr 10 Up-Alexandra and Mollie have been friends for as long as they can remember. In middle school, they befriended the risque but adorable Veronica. The three of them now attend a posh, private all-girls school. Once Mollie starts dating high school jock Sam, the dynamic of the trio changes. Alex spends more time with Drew, her platonic best friend and unrequited crush. Veronica becomes promiscuous and gets a reputation for it. Alex, the frizzy-haired rebel of the group, decides to join a band in order to pursue her musical interests and establish a separate identity for herself. As the new school year begins, Veronica throws a massive party at her often-empty house. She eventually begins an innocent flirtation with Drew, which her friends notice, and secretly hooks up with Sam on the sly as well. With two different love triangles developing, tensions mount as feelings between all invested parties threaten to break beyond repair. In this debut novel, Saft gives readers a look at the complicated relationships between high school girlfriends. The female characters she crafts are complex. Mollie is upset by Alex's decision to join a band without talking to her first, but has neglected her for years due to her tumultuous relationship with a boyfriend she doesn't even seem to like half the time. While the subject matter may seem innocuous and even vapid, the drama between the girls combined with their first-person perspectives proves to be a delightful, guilty read. VERDICT Fans of Cecily Von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girl" series will no doubt love this more nuanced story.-Ryan P. Donovan, Southborough Public Library, MA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
Grades 10-1 Those girls are Alex, Mollie, and Veronica, three foul-mouthed, acerbic teens who have been best friends for years. Alex and Mollie were friends first, but lately Mollie's obsession with her handsome jock boyfriend has put some distance between the pair. Alex now feels more comfortable with her best guy friend, Drew, although she won't admit how much she really likes him. Veronica is matter-of-fact about her partying and sexual dalliances, until one night she makes out with Drew. Much to Alex's dismay, he seems to really want to date Veronica. The secret trysts and hurt feelings pile up, until Mollie and Alex plot something really terrible for Veronica. Saft's debut reads like a fiercely driven Pretty Little Liars novel, featuring confused teens that get trapped by their own posturing. While some readers may be uncomfortable with the preponderance of obscenities and sex acts, others may find it refreshingly realistic. In either case, Saft has captured the darker side of female friendship and the redemption of forgiveness. Hand to fans of edgy chick lit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)