Revenge of the Wannabes

By Lisi Harrison

     Revenge of the Wannabes is like a girl's textbook for snotty behavior -- and an astounding number of preteen girls on Amazon said they wish they could be just like these girls! The characters are pretty and several of them are rich since the book is set in the most "elite" suburb of New York City. They're obsessed with clothes and boys and being cruel to anyone they deem "lesser" than themselves -- which includes virtually everyone. Revenge is the third in a series and revenge is what it's about. Alicia is a wealthy member of the clique -- she's the beta to Massie Block's alpha. The trouble is that she wants out of Massie's shadow and Massie can't allow that. All the girls are neurotically insecure about their place in school society. They have looks and possessions but they feed off trying to scramble to the top of the social heap by shoving everyone else down. And the scramble is destroying the one really decent girl among them -- Claire Lyons -- whose hunger for "clique" acceptance demands she give up her friendship with a cute boy and her belief in herself as a good person. Personally, I worry about those preteens who wish their lives were more like this book -- I really do.