Those Girls

Gr 10 Up—Alexandra and Mollie have been friends for as long as they can remember. In middle school, they befriended the risqué but adorable Veronica. The three of them now attend a posh, private all-girls school. Once Mollie starts dating high school jock Sam, the dynamic of the trio changes. Alex spends more time with Drew, her platonic best friend and unrequited crush. Veronica becomes promiscuous and gets a reputation for it. Alex, the frizzy-haired rebel of the group, decides to join a band in order to pursue her musical interests and establish a separate identity for herself. As the new school year begins, Veronica throws a massive party at her often-empty house. She eventually begins an innocent flirtation with Drew, which her friends notice, and secretly hooks up with Sam on the sly as well. With two different love triangles developing, tensions mount as feelings between all invested parties threaten to break beyond repair. In this debut novel, Saft gives readers a look at the complicated relationships between high school girlfriends. The female characters she crafts are complex. Mollie is upset by Alex's decision to join a band without talking to her first, but has neglected her for years due to her tumultuous relationship with a boyfriend she doesn't even seem to like half the time. While the subject matter may seem innocuous and even vapid, the drama between the girls combined with their first-person perspectives proves to be a delightful, guilty read.