Monday, August 30, 2010

MEANICURES by Catherine Clark



Catherine Clark makes her debut in middle grade fiction with MEANICURES.  What happens when some of your so-called friends turn into the mean girls?

Seventh grade is bound to begin with changes, but Madison definitely wasn't expecting some of the changes she encountered.  Most of her friends understand the challenges Madison faces when it comes to her mom and her crazy hair experiments, but when seventh grade begins with Madison trying to hide the hideous green streaks caused by her mother's latest product testing, she discovers several of her former friends use it as an opportunity to taunt and tease.  And that's just the start of their new mean girl attitude.

Madison and her two remaining friends, Olivia and Taylor, are determined to figure out a way to separate themselves from the other girls who seem to consider it their full-time job to make life miserable for them.  Ignoring them doesn't appear to make any difference so Madison plans a way to use a magic spell to repel their negative energy.  The only problem is, it seems that the spell reverses itself and is now turning Madison, Olivia, and Taylor into mean girls, too.

MEANICURES may be just the book to get real girls thinking about their own relationships.  Catherine Clark uses humor, the fear of bad hair days and public humiliation, along with typical middle school behavior to entertain as well as make a point about difficulties of young friendships.

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