Weekly Reader: A Good Girl by Janice Magerman; Debut YA Novel Is A Brilliantly Characterized Look At High School Cliques, Teen Suicide, and Pregnancy
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: YA Novels are difficult sometimes for adults to read the way the teen years were difficult to experience. It's hard to recall those times of raging hormones, romances that changed every other day, and the constant questioning of their roles and how to live up to them.
Janice Magerman's debut novel, A Good Girl captures those feelings of teenage insecurity and emotions by writing brilliant characters that deal with the pressures of high school cliques, suicide, and developing hormones.
Aaron, a bullied teen is driven to suicide after being pushed around one too many times by the wealthy school clique, The Elite. Aaron is a member of The Losers, a clique made up of poorer outcast students. Shortly after Aaron's suicide, his chief tormentor, Wade dies in a car accident. The two deaths send many of their friends reeling particularly Charlotte, a girl who was an Elite and Wade's friend but was growing tired of the Elite’s bullying.
Charlotte is the best character in the book because she is able to transcend the role dictated to her by her peer group. Even though socially she hung around with Wade and knew him as her boyfriend's best friend, she was not blind to his bullying ways and grieves more for Aaron. This realization affects the passages between her and Aaron's friend, Justin as she goes from offering casual sympathies to becoming a friend.
Justin and Charlotte befriend each other as he takes her around “Loserville,” the poor side of town. Justin is a very sweet character who helps Charlotte through her grief over Aaron and Wade's deaths, and is able to talk one on one with Charlotte as friends instead of members of opposing peer groups. The two share dreams, childhood memories, and the Reader prepares for a romance between the two.
Unfortunately, in the books only weak spot, Charlotte gets involved in a romance with Dillon, the requisite bad boy. Dillon is a potential juvenile delinquent who at first behaves obnoxious and misogynistic towards Charlotte. He is prejudiced against Charlotte because of her Elite status because he too has been a victim of their bullying. While he becomes a more likable character later on, the romance between Charlotte and Dillon seems more forced than anything else. It could have been just as effective for Dillon to accept Charlotte as a friend and who is happy with the relationship between his buddy, Justin and Justin's new girlfriend. Unfortunately, once Charlotte and Dillon starts to develop feelings for each other, Justin gets pushed aside and a more interesting and likeable character becomes Friend Zoned in favor of the classic Rich Good Girl/Poor Bad Boy pairing.
Some revelations get revealed in the book that changes the book's course and Charlotte's behavior. Some of the revelations appear abrupt and out of the blue but are subtly foreshadowed and lead to stronger character developments.They also allow Charlotte to challenge the hypocrisy of the Elites as people who display a wealthy successful facade while inside the homes are not successful or particularly happy.
A Good Girl is one of those novels that takes us inside the roles that teens play in cliques and shows how teens limit themselves when they join a clique. But when they confront those cliques and stereotypes, they can instead grow into better people.
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