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The Clique: Second Collection (平装)
by Lisi Harrison
| Category:
Teens, Girls |
| Market price: ¥ 308.00
MSL price:
¥ 288.00
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An all time best-selling fiction with realistic and lifelike characters. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 11 items |
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Sara Crane (MSL quote), USA
<2007-02-13 00:00>
As a prospective teacher, I always try to keep up with trends in children's literature. When I saw this book's cover, I recognized the perfectly groomed girls as modern-day versions of the Queen Bees of my grade school (Grosse Pointe, where I attended a parochial grade school, is a wealthy suburb; however, none of my former classmates had unlimited access to designer clothes or credit cards at such a young age...that part of the book is very unrealistic and purposely designed to let the rest of us see "how the other half lives").
The series' pivotal character, Massie, is rewarded for her cruelty time and time again, and the entire youth of Weschester County is in her thrall. Occasionally, we catch softer sides of Massie or become aware that she feels a momentary twinge of conscience. Claire, one of the other main characters, seems to have been a well-adjusted, happy-go-lucky girl before her parents relocated to Westchester County from Orlando. She wore appropriate clothes for a girl her age: Gap jeans and Keds shoes with handmade friendship bracelets serving as her only accessory. Now she is self-conscious of what she wears, and despite her parents' middle-class income, tries to copy "the Clique" in their fashion sensibilities of the highest-end designers.
Even if the narrator acknowledges the characters' cruelty towards each other, I don't think that young girls will get that these are not people they should perceive as role models. Girls may want to emulate the Queen Bee, since Massie gets so much attention and is envied and feared by all. Claire desperately wants her approval, despite having experienced Massie's cruelty firsthand. You can safely conclude that Claire's friends in Orlando, Sarah and Sari, never put her through such trials.
Even though these are fictitious characters, I can't help but feel sorry for them. To be so preoccupied with looks and designer clothes at such a young age is heartbreaking as are these girls' sense of entitlement and cluelessness about money. And while I'm all for healthy eating, these girls eat healthy for fear of weight gain, not for the sake of good nutrition.
I'm not exactly sure what Lisi Harrison is thinking. If she was never bullied, then maybe she doesn't know how awful it feels to be on the receiving end. Her target market is the very age group we adults should try to discourage and prevent bullying among. She is pandering to a sickness. A few comments about fleeting remorse or upset states of mind will not undo the overall impression young girls will take from these books. They will aspire to be Massies, Alicias, and Dylans in order to gain a feeling of importance and live vicariously through these characters.
Another point of contention with this series is that the plot is so static; nothing more than new gossip developments and revenge schemes take center stage. (Don't expect anything along the lines of Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl in terms of action.) I'm sure Lisi Harrison is a talented and creative individual, but I think she's misusing her time and energy with this series. An adult might be able to think critically about the cause and effect of these girls' actions, but an impressionable preteen probably won't get it. Cruelty is normalized in these books. In the movie "Mean Girls," Regina gets hers towards the end, but even more importantly, her character is transformed into a better person. Cady realizes that putting others down will never make her happier, smarter, or prettier. That theme is pretty straightforward in the movie. Not so with The Clique series.
(MSL note: A negative review) |
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1 2 Total 2 pages 11 items |
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