SOME GIRLS ARE
Courtney Summers
St. Martin’s Griffin
Fiction
ISBN: 9780312573805
256 pages

Going through high school can be a very traumatic experience, especially if you’re not part of the “in” crowd.

At the beginning of the school year, Regina Afton is part of said in crowd. She is friends with Anna Morrison, the most powerful girl in school --- although not necessarily the most popular. Anna takes control of everyone and everything just because she can: she’s the queen bee, and other students are content with letting her reign supreme. And although she helps and protects the ones closest to her, no one can cross her without severe consequences --- including Regina.

Anna and Regina are part of the Fearsome Fivesome, a group of girls (also consisting of Kara, Marta and Jeannette) that tells everyone in the school what to think about everyone else. They are the in crowd, the group everyone wants to belong to. Being a member of this group means that Regina doesn’t have to worry about not fitting in or being ostracized. That is, until a certain incident changes everything.

One night at a party, Anna’s boyfriend, Donnie, gets drunk and tries to rape Regina. When Regina confides in Kara, Kara betrays her to Anna, accusing Regina of sleeping with Anna’s boyfriend. Now Regina has to deal with the reality of being on the outside looking in. She is shunned from her group and treated with contempt. But Anna and her friends don’t stop there. Anna has Regina’s locker spray-painted with the word “whore” and has her books stolen and thrown in the school swimming pool. At one point, Regina is sadistically locked in a closet with Donnie. Another time, she is beaten and left at the side of the road, shoeless, on a frigid day.

Regina, in turn, finds a way to exact revenge against Anna and her former “friends” in a way that seems perfect. And it works --- at least for a day or two until it blows up in her face. In the end, though, she learns important lessons about friendship, self-worth, fitting in, being honest, and a whole host of other things.

Until “the incident,” although Regina was part of Anna’s group, she never felt like she truly belonged. She went along with what her fellow members did because she wasn’t strong enough to stand on her own against the others. Being ostracized forces her to take a long hard look at who she has become --- and she doesn’t like what she sees. With the help of those whose lives she and the rest of the Fearsome Fivesome helped destroy, she is able to rebuild her own life and self-esteem.

SOME GIRLS ARE is a powerful novel about serious teen issues. My only complaint is that it contains a fair number of four-letter words and makes numerous references to drug use, alcohol and teenage sex. It doesn’t quite glamorize these issues, but it legitimizes them. That can be good or bad; you decide. With her fast-paced writing style, penchant for edgy themes and grasp of timely teen topics, Courtney Summers succeeds in her second young adult novel (following 2008’s CRACKED UP TO BE). I look forward to reading more from this talented author in the future.

   --- Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin

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