The Pretty Committee Strikes Back: A Clique Novel -- Lisi Harrison

Okay.  After reading this book, I really think that someone out there (not you, Naomi Wolf) should write a book about this series.  Either that, or a grown-up book club should read 'em all.  Suggestions for discussion:

Celebrity Idolatry.

She was even starting to embrace the fact that he wore shorts in the dead of winter.  It was his "thing".  And every famous athlete had to have a "thing", or else his fans wouldn't have anything to copy.  Massie's stomach suddenly tightened at the thought of Derrington surrounded by hordes of shorts-wearing fans, because in this scenario she would be the glamour girl standing by his side.  The girl every other girl wanted to be.  And nothing was more ah-mazing than that.

Note that Massie isn't disturbed by the fact that everyone emulates famous people.  She knows it and likes it -- because she wants to be one.  I read this passage at least four times, and it creeped me out every single time.  Honestly, there wasn't a whole lot about actual celebrities in the book, unless you count the the girls as such -- which is certainly a fair reading, given that that's exactly how they seem to view themselves. 

Consumerism.

I'm especially fond of this bit:

Massie ballooned with pride.  Her crush was the most popular guy in her grade.  And she was the most popular girl.  They were a perfect match, like DK and NY.

I'd say that, on average, there was at least one brand name mentioned on every page.  That's two-hundred and sixty-five instances of name-dropping.  Are companies going to start paying for this service?  Are they already?  It's pretty gross.  The fictional 'Glossip Girl' lip gloss is mentioned again and again -- it comes in a ridiculous array of flavors, I couldn't help but think of Bertie Botts -- but doesn't it seem like some sort of weird subliminal advertisement for the Gossip Girl books?

Peer Pressure:

Missing one of Massie's get-togethers meant spending a sleepless night tossing and turning, wondering if you were missing anything good and wondering if anyone was saying anything about you behind your back.  And nothing was worth that kind of torture.

Succumbing to peer pressure is what Claire is all about.  Over and over again, she scurries back to Massie & Co., even when she doesn't want to -- because she wants to be one of the shining ones.  Yes, that is pretty realistic, I agree.  But knowing that doesn't make her seem any less shallow and pathetic.  She's supposed to be the most sympathetic character of the whole crew, but she comes off as the most unattractive.

I really hope that girls aren't using this series as a place to garner advice:

"You're a sex goddess in three...two...one," she told herself.  When her countdown was over, she lifted her head and dabbed on a final coat of Cinnabon Glossip Girl, making sure the center of her bottom lip had an extra dollop, to make it look fuller.

GROSS.  Who wants to kiss THAT?

Miscellaneous:

There are strange food issues throughout -- Massie can't eat because of her nerves and Dylan won't shut up about losing ten pounds due to her recent bout of the flu.  She's so proud.  Her specific size is mentioned:  Size 2.  TWO.  A size 2 plus ten pounds does not equal fat.  Period.  The rest of the girls are sick of her yammering, partly because she won't shut up and partly because she wasn't fat in the first place, but no concern is raised.  Of course, all of the girls are extremely self-centered, so that is in character.

The book involves the girls going on a three-day 'camping' trip for a school field trip.  The camping trip costs $1500 each and the girls bring, on average, four suitcases each.  I assume that the kids who read this series understand that there are points where our heroines are being mocked.  At least, I hope they're being mocked.  If they aren't, Massie's 'lavender angora slippers' are a lot less funny.

Layne, Claire's sort-of friend, gets her period and is upset because she's 'the first one to get it'.  What the hell grade are they IN, anyway?  The average age for a first period is 12.  I've been assuming that the girls are in middle school and if so, I refuse to believe that no one else has it yet.  Over and over again, Alicia is described as having huge knockers.  Yet she doesn't have her period?  IT JUST MAKES NO SENSE.

I'm very serious when I say that these examples are just scratching the surface.  I'm so strangely fascinated that I might go back and read the others.  I've kind of been comparing my relationship with The Clique to my relationship with Days of Our Lives:  I can read one, skip three, pick up the fifth and still know what's going on AND even though I don't care about a single character, I still want to know what happens next.

Okay.  I admit it.  I'm also hoping for some more amazingly bad poetry:

I never liked him as more than a friend;
I was hurt because I got dissed.
Please don't say that this is the end:
I won't be happy till we've kissed.

[Edit: A Few Hours Later]

I have a confession to make:  After looking at Lisi Harrison's website, I kind of want to read the other Clique books.  She's really funny. 

[Even Later]

Gail Gauthier's posts on the subject are also worth reading.  (She's the author of the fabulous A Year with Butch and Spike, among others.)

Comments

[c.c.]

The new Horn Book has a great editorial on this; he proposes the shocking conclusion that maybe the reason kids love this stuff so much is because their parents don't want them to read it.

They still make me wanna hurl though.

[Leila]

Yeah. The first one made me feel the same way. But I'm getting sucked in -- I was especially jazzed when

SPOILER

they all got EXPELLED at the end of this one!! It was like the end of Seinfeld (they all went to jail, totally getting what they deserved). So cool. HA. Stupid Claire. Where did her peer pressure get her?? EXPELLED. MUH Ha aa aa....

[Ashlee]

great book

[Rikki Cores]

These are the best books i ever read i would keep making the Clique series but i have one suggestion can you like write the name of the people on the front cover so we know whos who our like say alica to the right please get back to me i would love to know who they were

[Allison]

um i think these books are great!! girls dont use these books as guidlines i mean they are just books...you read them for fun. drama is the whole part of the excitement of books so stop complaing...apparently you dont like "rich girl" books so i have some advice...DONT READ THEM!!

[Kate]

when is the next 1 coming out? Whats it called im totally into these books.

Just so u know......................

MASSIE RULES~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andie]

I totally agree with you. I think... Anyways, the author seems to be making Massie and her 'clique' look like people tween girls would want to be like, and that everyone should be as well off. It's simple fact that it's not that way. Thanks for your time. Also, I found a blog kinda copying Massie's 'Current State of the Union' blog. Weird, huh?

-Andie

[Hannah Love]

Now for your information I like that book. And I was just like you, I wanted to read the other books, and I did and loved them. Now Massie and the Pretty Committee were just like any teenagers would be. They want to look good, and just had to get to know Claire. But kinda the fact that she went behind their backs delayed it, but she hurt right. And Claire also just wanted to be liked, and not just by Layne, because the other girls make fun of her, and she couldn't stand that. And that poem she wrote to Cam Fisher was she was sorry and wanted him back. I agree with Andie, Kate, Allison, Rikki Cores. You girls rock and so does this book!!!! Yeah they should do that Rikki. Thanks for the idea.

[Megan]

I agree with Hannah. I read all those books and I just wanted to let you know they are great!

[Amy]

Do you know why people like this book? Because people associate this with their own life. Girls want to be the well liked, popular, girl. And this book convaies that idea. I just wanted to let you know.

[Sierra]

Okay Massie is supposed to be the prettiest but from the covers it is more likely that it is Alicia or Claire or whoever. BTW i never got to read PCSA (Pretty Committee strikes Again) but my friend told me the clique walk in the woods at their trip and get expelled. that is a STUPID reason, if it is even true. Can someone tell me how they get expelled? HAHAHAHAHAH Claire getting expelled. it is like sooooooo HAHAHAHA. She was such a goody girl. But since there is another book coming out i reallly wanna know what happens after the expelling. Alicia Rox!

[Sierra]

Okay Massie is supposed to be the prettiest but from the covers it is more likely that it is Alicia or Claire or whoever. BTW i never got to read PCSB (Pretty Committee strikes Back) but my friend told me the clique walk in the woods at their trip and get expelled. that is a STUPID reason, if it is even true. Can someone tell me how they get expelled? HAHAHAHAHAH Claire getting expelled. it is like sooooooo HAHAHAHA. She was such a goody girl. But since there is another book coming out i reallly wanna know what happens after the expelling. Alicia Rox!

[vicki]

To tell you the truth this is my favorite book it's actually really good. Oh BTW there in 7th grade, i've read all the series and i remeber in one of them it said somthing about them being in 7th grade or somthing like that. Everyone in the PC (pretty commite, massie, claire, dylan, kristen & alicia) is supposed to act way older then their age. Like they act 4 or 2 more years older incept for Claire. Claire is supposed to act her normal age, but tries to fit in with massie and more. It's a great book you guys should read it

[Hannah]

I realllly want to know who the people are on the cover,
i think i can figure out which ones alicia, and dylan,
but on the book Dial L for loser, i cant figure out who anyone is!
HELP!

[Theresa]

I can mostly figure out the cover but you guys are being way 2 harsh. These books rock!

[Hailey Nicole]

I think this is way harsh.
The TPC books are very ahmazing.

Everyone that I know that reads them actually do follow these guidelines. Although I find the rich, 'spur of the moment' escapades of LV & all these high price stores being raided by these tiny girls, very ruhdiculous. I also find it all compelling.

But I'm only 12. What do I know.

[Bridget]

I love these books but the girls do act a little (ok a lot) older than they really are. I recently realized that I'm just about the same age as the girls in this book! But I just have 1 question, is Glossip Girl (the lip gloss they like) real?? I was just wondering

[sarah]

you are being extremely harsh. first off whats wrong with massie wanted to be famous next in the book massie loves fashion and is rich so obviousley she likes big names it makes the charecters seem more real. second she gives in to peer pressure,not a great choice but it doesnt make her shallow!third havent you ever heard of bonnebell kiss this gloss(MENT for kissing......what massie is doing!)(duh)next dylan is their best friend so they know her enough that they'll know when shes going overboard and stop her.....being a size two in seventh grade is nottt too skinny! and next lisi woouldn't MOCK her own charecters!next it says no where in the book she the only one in her grade with her period....im in 8th and me and my friends DONT sit around saying omg like i had my period!!!lets see YOU write some poetry. ive read waaaaaaaaaaaay more books then the average 8th grader and these are some of my favorite so i think you need to get a life and stop critizing books and start critizing the way you act!!!!!
sincerley
a concerned fan of the clique books

[Katie]

I love the book, even though L.H. is promoting the stereotype that privet school girls go around sneezing in dimond studded silk tissues and are like junior members of the cast "All my classmates" sure there is some drama in Privet schools, but some people already think that. Clique dosen't need to help.
Who do YOU think is cool?
a. Massie
b. Claire
c. Dylan
d. Alica
E. Kristen
f. Olivia
G. Layne (BTW: u can't click on the names to go to another link, so just post a comment)

[katie]

i just wanted to know if glossip girl is real .I mean I have searched and searched or is it fiction okay I LOVE The CLIQUE SERIES!!!!!!!!!

[Meghan]

Do you even call these trash-filled pages "books?" They ruin girls so much... I know so many girls who have read them then saved up all their money to blow off on ridiculous designer items to be faux "rich." The girls in this book are so noveau riche and illiterate it's pretty hilarious, and most of the girls who read them are too.

[monica]

If you think that the clique books are trash then why would you be looking at the website? No offense but I disagree. They are really good books and just because you dont agree with there lifestyles doesnt make it bad. What is wrong with wanting nice things? The girls who read these books dont get ruined. Just because they want to save up there money to buy those nice things then more power to them,that isn't anything like the girls in the book. The girls in the book don't work for anything and if the people who read this book want to actually work for there money and save it then that is Accnoligable. I strongley disagree that the girls in the book and who read the book are illiterate. How could they be illiterate if the were READING the book. The girls in this book are actually pretty smart and if you actually read them then you would know that they are dissapointed in themselves if they get a "C" on a quiz. A "C" isnt even that bad. So i think that you need to actually read the books before you critize them and call them trash. Know that I mean nothin ghateful towards you are anyone else who feels the same way but I tihnk that calling them trash filled goes a little to far. Im sorry if I hurt your feelings by saying that and just believe me when I say that I mean nothing harsh towards you personally.

[monica]

If you think that the clique books are trash then why would you be looking at the website? No offense but I disagree. They are really good books and just because you dont agree with there lifestyles doesnt make it bad. What is wrong with wanting nice things? The girls who read these books dont get ruined. Just because they want to save up there money to buy those nice things then more power to them,that isn't anything like the girls in the book. The girls in the book don't work for anything and if the people who read this book want to actually work for there money and save it then that is Accnoligable. I strongley disagree that the girls in the book and who read the book are illiterate. How could they be illiterate if the were READING the book. The girls in this book are actually pretty smart and if you actually read them then you would know that they are dissapointed in themselves if they get a "C" on a quiz. A "C" isnt even that bad. So i think that you need to actually read the books before you critize them and call them trash. Know that I mean nothin ghateful towards you are anyone else who feels the same way but I tihnk that calling them trash filled goes a little to far. Im sorry if I hurt your feelings by saying that and just believe me when I say that I mean nothing harsh towards you personally.

[jessi]

i know youve already said that there is no movie yet but if there is ever going to be one pleeeeeeeeease let me know.

,..,,,,,,,