Invasion of the Boy Snatchers

May 24, 2004
Middle schoolers who have participated in the "popularity game" may be drawn to this series opener by a first-time author, which takes cliquish, snobbish behavior to Hollywood extremes. Massie Block, whom readers will love to hate, is rich, conniving and the uncontested leader of the "A-list" group of seventh graders at an exclusive private girls' school in New York's affluent Westchester County. When Mr. Block's unemployed college friend moves his family into the Blocks' guest house, Mrs. Block pushes Massie to befriend their daughter, Claire, who is the same age but dresses "like one of the cast members from Barney and Friends
"; Massie predictably rebels. She wastes no opportunity to let Claire know there is no room for her in the in-crowd; Claire, however, decides to fight back. What follows is a rigorous battle of wills between the girls involving backbiting, scheming and carrying out nasty pranks. With an arsenal stocked with designer clothing and cosmetics, fancy cell phones and "mani/pedi" appointments, Massie and her friends publicly humiliate Claire time after time, and Claire, slowly but surely, figures out a way to turn Massie's friends against her. Readers who are initially amused may find that the successive acts of one-upmanship result in a one-note read—while Massie and Claire experience a moment or two of camaraderie, they stay pretty superficial, unchanged by their victories and defeats. Ages 12-up.

June 30, 2008
Grade 5-8-Claire Lyons moves with her parents from Florida to wealthy Westchester County, NY. Until they can get settled, the family stays in the guesthouse of Mr. Lyons's college buddy, who happens to have a daughter who is also in seventh grade. Expected to welcome her, Massie instead chooses to make Claire's life miserable for no other reason than she's the new girl. Massie enlists her clique of friends at Octavian Country Day School, all part of the beautiful and popular crowd, to help with the harassment, which ranges from catty comments on Claire's clothes to spilling red paint on her white jeans in a conspicuous spot. Tired of it all, Claire tries to fight back, but then the abuse worsens. The book has trendy references kids will love, including Starbucks in the school, designer clothes, and Palm Pilots for list making. However, this trendiness doesn't make up for the shallowness of the characters or the one-dimensional plot. Nor is the cruelty of the clique redeemed with any sort of a satisfying ending. Amy Goldman Koss's The Girls (Dial, 2000) shows the same cruelty of girls with a more realistic story and resolution. School Library Journal.