Busted

October 15, 2017
First, Marisa Palmera spots her best friend's boyfriend making out with another girl. Then her old frenemy, white girl Kendall, comes back into her life and enlists Marisa to spy on her boyfriend, white guy TJ, whom Kendall suspects is two-timing her. For the sake of the job, white Marisa befriends TJ; he's definitely hiding something, but it might not be what Kendall and Marisa think. As Marisa and TJ's friendship grows, she finds herself falling for him, landing in the throes of a moral crisis. In a misguided act of gratitude, Kendall sets up a website called Busted ("Don't hate the player...bust his ass!") to advertise Marisa's "services" for a fee, and before long, Marisa is the go-to gal for exposing high school infidelities (the "clients" all appear to be white, heterosexual teenage girls). A subplot in which Marisa's best friend, white girl Charlie, is wrongly accused of stealing test answers adds another element of mystery that might be connected to TJ's shady activity. Marisa's biting first-person narration is enhanced by hilarious, sarcastic volleying back and forth with her brother, Nick. Throughout, girls, including Marisa, employ such insults as "tramp," "bimbo," and "drama queen" to put down and devalue other girls. The demeaning language goes both ways: "slut" and "bitch" are equally applied to boys. Good for a few chuckles. (Fiction. 13-18)

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November 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Marisa doesn't intend on making a career out of spying, but when she catches her best friend Charlie's boyfriend making out with another girl, she develops a reputation for sniffing out cheaters. Her next case is ex-frenemy Kendall who has recently moved back to town. As she gets to know Kendall's boyfriend TJ, Marisa starts to fall for him and the feelings appear to be mutual. A parallel cheating story line evolves as Charlie is accused of stealing test answers from a teacher's laptop at her private school and Marisa, her brother Nick, TJ, and Charlie work together to try to figure out who really stole the answers. The characters are realistic and well developed. Challenges of socioeconomic status are highlighted through Marisa attending a public school even though her test scores would enable her to attend the prestigious honors program at the private school. Mature language and references to cheating make this title more suitable for older readers. VERDICT A satisfying story that explores how actions in life and relationships impact others. A good choice for large YA collections.-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 When Marisa accidentally catches her best friend's boyfriend cheating, she opens herself up to a whole host of girls who want her to find out if their significant others are also two-timing scumbags. What she doesn't expect is for her old friend Kendall to move back into town and ask for the same favor. Kendall and Marisa were friendsand competitorswhen they were little, and that fierce competitive streak is still going strong. Kendall brags that she got into the elite honors program of the neighboring high school, Templetona program Marisa was accepted to but cannot attend, as her parents can't afford the out-of-district fee. Marisa starts hanging out with Kendall's boyfriend, and sparks fly. But then Marisa's friend Charlie gets accused of distributing test answers at Templeton, and it's up to Marisa, now a master snoop, to clear her name. Though Marisa isn't quite as sharp as teen supersleuth Veronica Mars, this is a wholesome read. Entangled relationships muddle the story, but the cheating scandal keeps readers engaged.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)