Anika Dragomir is a pretty confident teen and she's number two in school popularity, standing right behind Becky Vilhauer, who is totally evil. Slowly but surely Anika breaks away from Becky, by overturning a rumor and dating an unpopular guy she starts a train of events that ends in both triumph and tragedy.
Anika is one of the best characters I've ever read in a YA book. She is completely off-hand about so many outrageous things, not least that she feeds her McJob boss ground up Valium to mellow him out during her shift. And yet, she's far from shallow or stupid. Anika's voice is hilarious and really sweeps you up in the plot. Then the plot makes you think.
There's an author note at the start of the book which says:
"This is a novel based on my ninth-grade year of junior high. I wrote this story because I wish I could go back in time and give this message to myself."
Which also makes you think.
For Ages 12+
Published by HarperTeen, September 2, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment