High School Senior Regina Afton is part of the “in” crowd. Along side her BFF Anna, no one can stop her. The students hate them for being so popular, but they fear them more and that is just the way Regina prefers it. No one is off-limits to her click and they will destroy anyone in their paths and Regina is all too happy to do it as long as it keeps Anna on her side. Regina knows there is nothing that can bring her down.
Until…. one day…
something does.
At a party one night Anna’s boyfriend moves in on Regina. When Regina confides in someone about a potential rape, she is sold out for a chance for the other girl to replace her in the popularity circle. What follows is a series of events that spiral Regina from the top of the heap to the lowest position in the school, practically overnight. As Regina struggles for a foothold, she sees how her treatment of others has left her with no allies, except possibly the one boy she had helped destroy.
I have so many thoughts about this book.
I seen a review of this late last summer and thought it sounded interesting then. More recently I found it on a list for a Cybils award and knew that I had to read it.
Some Girls Are is a book of all the things I love and hate about some of the YA I read. Let’s start with hate.
I hate (I know that’s a strong word – and really dislike is probably more appropriate here) when the books center around parties and drinking and drugs…. and there is plenty of all of the above in Some Girls Are. I am not prudish, I just think of the audience the books are for and when I see High School characters doing these things like it is just a part of their 15 – 18-year-old existence, it bothers me.
In particular there is a line in the book when Regina’s mom tells her that if she continues to skip school, she will no longer be allowed to see her friends, go out with her boyfriend, or go to parties. Go to parties?
AND (I am fired up now!) In several instances in the book it seems like these parties go late. I mean LATE. While they are always wise to have a designated driver – the level of drinking in this book makes me wonder – do these kids not have curfews? Do their parents not care if their teenager stumbles into the house at 3 am smelling like a brewery or higher than a kite?
Ok.
Now that I said my piece with that. Let me tell you what I love about the book.
I love the relationships that author Courtney Summers creates within this book. I honestly felt Regina’s pain when she is betrayed and ostracized from her friends. For those of us who have been through high school, we should all be able to remember what it feels like when a secret is told… when a friend, is no longer the friend you thought he/she was. In this, Courtney Summers excels with the accurate descriptions of the high emotion of youth.
In all YA I read, I try to find the deeper lesson and it is told well here. As Regina’s story unfolds, she learns who her true friends are, and in the process of healing – she finds herself too.
And holy smokes, can someone say “Mean Girls?” The level of evilness that happens within this book is no less than the movie that holds that name. FYI: There is a girl in the movie – also named Regina….
Overall, this is a book I did appreciate. I enjoyed the writing style, it became hard to put down as I began to wonder what would be Regina’s breaking point…. who was going to come out on top… and would there (could there?) be a reconciliation between the once friends.
I look forward to reading Courtney Summers again.
The 2011 Reading map has been updated to include Some Girls Are
*Actually, I could not find a location for Some Girls Are so I Googled The High School they mention in the book and turns out – there is one in Maine…. so Maine it is. If anyone knows where the book is set at, please let me know. 😀
I borrowed this book from my local library
Check out Coutney’s blog here
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