Mean Girls 10th Anniversary Reading List

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the awesome, grool movie, Mean Girls. It's quite nice that it lands on a Wednesday, so we all get to wear pink for it today! To celebrate this wonderful day, I thought I'd create a reading list that goes along with the theme of the movie, because who doesn't like a mean girl?

Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers: “I didn't want to be popular because it was easier; I wanted to be popular because in high school that's the best thing you can be: perfect. Everything else is shit.” 

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: “You set fire to my house, killed my family, and ate my dog. But steal my boyfriend? That's a step too far.” 

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver: “It's funny how you can know your friends so well, but you still end up playing the same games with them.” 

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian: "This is Karma. I’m a bitch. Can you think of anyone who deserves a bitch slap?"

Speechless by Hannah Harrington: “I'm an expert at finding out secrets, but keeping them- especially a secret of this magnitude - is something else.”

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers: “Tell Liz,' I say, 'the mean girl totally got what she deserved in the end.” 

 Have fun reading about some mean girls who either get what they deserve or learn how redeem themselves. What other books do you think should be added to this list?

Top Ten Tuesday: If You Like That, Try This

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists about bookish topics to share around the world.

This week's topic is Top ten books to read if you like these T.V. shows, movies, plays, etc.

If you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer read... Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead: Hunters, hunted, lots of puns and snark!

If you like Once Upon a Time read.... The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: Fairytales remade into something completely different
                                                           
If you like Pitch Perfect read... This Song Will Save Your Life by Laila Sales: Finding out who you are through music, solo girl making friends

If you like Easy A read... Uninvited by Sophie Jordan: Ostracized for something she didn't do

If you like Mean Girls read... Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers: Mean girls of course!

If you like Romeo and Juliet read... Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: Forbidden love, war between families

If you like The Walking Dead read... The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan: Zombies!

If you like Romantic comedies read... anything by Jennifer E. Smith! Cuteness overload with happy endings

If you like Veronica Mars read... Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers: Girl goes from top to bottom, trying to figure out something that happened to her.

If you like Anything so much you want to watch it over and over again, read... Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. This is a must for anyone who is obsessed with anything.

I feel like I could do this all day, there are so many good books and movies out there that relate to each other in on way or another. What's your top ten?

46. Confessions Of An Angry Girl

Book #46: Confessions Of An Angry Girl
Author: Louise Rozett
Published: August 28, 2012
272 Pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has someconfessions to make…

1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate,don't you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is nowenraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.)

High school sucks, right? This book gives you the very average, very likely high school freshman. Enter Rose Zarelli, a girl who is thrown to the wolves like the rest of us were the first day of high school I for one got lucky, my older brother was already at my school when I started so everyone left me alone (he was kind of goth and kind of scary, so they didn't touch me) but Rose is not so lucky. Her older brother Peter has left for college so she has no protection against the evilness that is high school cheerleaders. She's not invisible either (which can be a very good thing in high school) because her dad passed away over the summer so everyone in town knows her face now. As if her life doesn't suck enough already, her best friend has turned into a pretty girl and joins the cheerleading squad. Needless to say, Rose is one angry girl.

For the first half of the book, I didn't really feel her anger. I understood her pain and I wanted things to go her way because she's already been through so much, but then the anger comes out and it's perfect. See Rose has caught the attentions of a senior who just happens to be dating one of those aforementioned cheerleaders. This doesn't sit so well with them and Regina (yes, this is officially a mean girl name) decides to make her know it pisses her off. Like I said earlier, I was never bullied by cheerleaders but I wasn't popular either. Regina is mean, no question about it, and Rose has good reason to be angry at the whole situation. 

Bullying seems to be a trend in young adult right now and there's no better time for it. The actions done through others reflects what our society has become and I'm glad authors are making note of it. Bullies need to be stopped and if writing about it in a novel will make those who are getting bullied come forward, then maybe we can stop it. Rose doesn't come forward because she knows the effects that will have on her life. The fear is what makes the bullies continue. Unfortunately there are mean girls in real life, everywhere, and Rozett writes this one too well. 

I'm on the fence about Jamie still, as I was finding it hard to see what all the fuss was about. But the other minor characters fit into the story well. Peter is trying to move away from high school and his messed up family, but Rose finds it difficult to let him. Tracy is just trying to fit into high school and Rose doesn't seem to understand why. Robert is just annoying, but so very high school boy that I must give props to Rozett for creating such a puppy dog. Regina is, well, Regina is down right cruel. Boy am I glad I've never come across anyone like her, especially in high school. There is talk about sex galore, which surprises me because I was certainly not thinking about sec when I was fifteen. But I'm sure times are different, I mean it has been 12 years. The thing I liked most about this book were the chapter headings. Rose is a self proclaimed word nerd, so each chapter starts with a word and its definition and Rose's minor note as to how it relates to the chapter. This gave me more insight into Rose's head than most of the book did. I didn't feel her grief or her pressure to fit in as well as I could have. But I did enjoy her sarcastic humour and the trials and tribulations of trying to make it through freshmen year. We all know how hard it is to get through any part of high school. So I can't wait to read about her adventures in the sequel, Confessions Of An Almost Girlfriend (see also: sophomore year)

“Bad things happen whether you're scared or not, so you might as well not bother being scared. It's a waste of time.” 

45. Some Girls Are

Book #45: Some Girls Are
Author: Courtney Summers
Published: January 5, 2010
246 Pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard--falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around.  Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.  If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumours are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Summers has done it again. It's no secret that I'm her number one fan, so be prepared for some fangirling in this review. She writes the mean girl like it's her job and Regina is no exception. Regina, like Regina from Mean Girls is a bully. She is best friends with the most popular girl in school and has done more than a few things that she regrets to stay at her side. She must continuously impress Anna in order to stay on top. This means betraying old friends, hurting people and a whole lot of rumours. So when the tables turn and she is suddenly the one being bullied, she sees exactly who these girls really are. You would think she deserves it, but after finding out why the rumours started, you'll be on her side. And I was on her side the whole time. 

People make mistakes. Summers is perfect with redemption for her characters. They've all done things they regret, but it's getting past that and learning from your mistakes that sets you apart from the rest. Regina goes from the top of the ladder to the bottom, the sole recipient of Anna's torture. And boy are these girls mean. Anna makes Regina George look like an angel. Regina is thrown to the wolves, fearing school and hiding out with the only person who seems to let her, Michael, someone who has more reason to hate her than anyone else at school. Being on the receiving end is brutal and he helps Regina see herself for who she really is - a bully. Her path to redemption is not an easy one. The Fearsome Foursome (he ex-BFFs) make every day a living hell and Michael, who she is starting to have feelings for, can't find a way to forgive her for how she's treated him in the past. Every moment in this novel is torture. You feel Regina's pain as though you are the one being bullied. Anna makes sure that school is not somewhere Regina wants to be and she does not give Regina a chance to tell her the truth about that fateful night. Regina tries to be strong and she does a good job pretending to be, but we all know she is dying inside. She holds guilt and fear and painful secret that only elevates the torture being set on her. The acts of violence that Anna pulled on her made me cringe and tear up, wanting so badly for them to get what they deserved and for Regina to get through it. 

High school has its secrets. We don't know what is happening behind closed doors. We don't know what those notes say in other people's lockers. We don't know who is being tortured while we stand and do nothing. Bullying is not a laughing matter. Some people bully others to the point of suicide. We don't know how our words affect others. We don't know everything. Regina gets to see the pain that she has caused others in her life. She learns how it feels the hard way, but she learns. She knows that she has hurt others and she tries to make it right. None of it is worth it if it hurts others. Words can do a lot to a person and if we are lucky enough to have the chance to make it right, I hope we all do. Summers is brilliant with this heart-felt, touching novel about the truths in rumours, gossip, love and bullying. Every character hit me hard and demanded to be listened to. And boy did they deserve my time. 

“Tell Liz,' I say, 'the mean girl totally got what she deserved in the end.” 

“I close my eyes and lean my head against the seat, and the word fuck just repeats itself over and over in my head, because fuck.”