Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do?

Compared to some of the other teen novels I've been reading lately, this one came up a little short. Some of the situations seemed a little "contrived" and lacking in credibility, and the characters seemed to be too stereotypical and lacking in depth. It was still an enjoyable read, but I guess I was expecting "more" from such a fine author.

Having heard the protagonists, Mikey and Margalo, described as shallow and self-centered, I was expecting the worst. One might guess from that description that the teenagers wear nothing but name brands, belong to the "A-List" clique and spend their time making less popular students miserable. But the opposite is true. As for them and their friends being "self-centered," or "petty," that's a normal developmental stage for adolescents and not necessarily a sign that they are irredeemable. What else are teens going to discuss about at school but their problems, teachers, extracurriculars, and other students? For that matter, what do adults talk about when they get together? The plots center around the girls trying to stop the bullying of a classmate and friend (how many "shallow" teens do that?), standing up to a tennis coach who wants her team to cheat on line calls, and tracking down a thief who has stolen Margalo's money. While the girls' inner strength and immunity to peer pressure sometimes seemed too good to be true, it's nice to read about adolescents who don't want to be a princess or a prom queen. Not all teen girls are willing to sell their souls to be popular, but this often isn't the message many teen books send. My one complaint was that the book went on far too long. Some of the minor characters' developed conflicts and then disappeared only to have them solved in an overly pat manner.

The fourth book about the adventures of Bad Girls Mikey Elsinger and Margalo Epps, BAD GIRLS, BAD GIRLS, WHATCHA GONNA DO? happens over the course of Mikey and Margalo's ninth grade year. They've started high school, so, of course, things are going to be different! The two are rather surprised to find that people are asking them for advice, but, of course, between the two of them, there's always a plan. The difficulties they face include an unfair tennis coach, bullies, thieves, and, well, ninth grade. Being Mikey and Margalo, they always come up with a way to fix things. It doesn't matter if it's against the rules; injustices have got to be corrected! It is, however, surprising that they have so much help with what they do; in fact, there's almost an entire lunch table full of people putting their various talents to use helping Mikey and Margalo! Mikey and Margalo, despite the title of the book, do not seem to be particularly bad. In fact, they are almost too good to be realistic in the causes for which they choose to fight. They're fighting school bullies and trying to get the lines called fairly in tennis matches, not stealing lunch money or throwing spitballs at their teachers. However, even though they aren't the bad girls that the title suggests, Mikey and Margalo are fairly realistic and likeable characters. I vaguely remember reading a couple of the previous books in the series a few years ago, and Mikey and Margalo were a lot more amusing then. This book, while at times a fun read, also had times where it dragged on and on. This book would have been five stars, had it been a couple hundred pages shorter (it's over four-hundred pages long)! Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce