Nice and Mean

 NICE AND MEAN

By:  Jessica Leader

FIRST SENTENCE

“When I realized I was about to flip though the Seventeen Back-to-School Fashions for the third time that afternoon, I slammed the magazine shut and hurled it across the room. ”

SUMMARY
from book jacket

Marina is mean.  Sachi is nice.  Marina is Barneys.  Sachi is Burlington Coat Factory.  It’s bad enough they’re forced to co-exist in their middle school’s high-profile video elective- but now they’re being forced to work together on the big semester project.  Marina’s objective?  Out her wannabe BFF as a fashion victim to her entire middle school.  Sachi’s objective?  Prove that she’s not just the smiley class pencil-lender and broaden her classmate’s cultural horizons.  Work together in harmony?  Yeah, that would be a no.  How can Sachi film something meaningful and Marina, something fabulous, if their yoked to each other?

REVIEW

We all know them.  The mean girls at school.  They are the ones who think they rule the school and bring others down just because they can.  Their friends aren’t real though, because they are only being loyal out of fear.  Marina is all-out mean.

Then there are the nice girls.  Sometimes too nice, if you know what I mean.  They can’t say no to anyone, and they get walked all over.  Sachi falls into this “too nice” category.

Jessica Leader presents both sides of this story in a creative way.  Marina’s Little Black Book and Sachi’s Video Nightmare are like journal entries into the girls’ minds.  As much as I didn’t care for Marina and her meanness, I liked getting into her thoughts and trying to understand WHY she was the way she was.  In the end, I think Marina was insecure and drunk with power.  Sachi, on the other hand, became a doormat because her parents planned her every move. 

This book is less about the video, and more about growing up, and story itself is engaging.  The girls came up with a new idea on their own, and I loved that.

I recommend this book to middle grade and younger-young adult readers.  Thank you to Jessica Leader for sending this book for me to review.

RATING

4        Plot

4        Characters

3        Attention Grabbing

4        Girlie Meter

4        Ending

19      TOTAL

4        STARS