The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies

This novel in a word: Endearing. It reminded me of Mean Girl in a way, especially at the end. You remember the Burn Book in which Regina George talked smack about all of her classmates? What is present here, instead of a book, is a wall where the girls who constitute the Revelers write truths--that is, deep, dark secrets--about themselves, the other girls in their class, and their teachers. When the Wall is found during a party, there's a shower of mollusks signaling the arrival of Armageddon. People get hurt, people get mad, and the Revelers get in trouble with their parents and the school officials. I quite this one. It had a lot of layers, which is something I appreciate in any novel. Aside from the friendships she maintained with the Revelers and Anne Marie (a girl from their school), there was also a great familial subplot that deals with the deterioration of Maggie's parents' marriage. I thought this was perhaps the best part of the novel, if only because it was the most relatable. The writing was also quite good (except for a few interjection dumps, like, ".... Crap. Shoot. Dang."), which allowed for the message to came across strongly. I especially liked this part at the end where her Philosophy professor makes me draw a line between the discovery of the Wall and Schrödinger's cat experiment. Fascinating stuff, not to mention intelligent. The ending could've probably been stronger if it drawn out more and we got to see a little bit more of the aftermath of the Revelers' social demise, but this wasn't a must, so I'm chill with it. Recommended.

Maggie has moved from New Jersey to New York city due to her parents splitting up. Maggie is forced to start her senior year of high school at an all-girls school called Berkeley Prep. The school consists of a very driven group of girls, each falling into their own cliques. Maggie stumbles into one of the most powerful cliques, the Revelers, and after being initiated she's introduced to a tradition of collecting classmate's secrets for future generations. The Revelers justify collecting the secrets of classmates as just giving an honest account of what's going on in the lives of girls their age. At first Maggie is intrigued by the status that her new clique holds and is easily swayed into their world, but as time goes on she realizes that divulging people's secrets, however true they may be, can lead to irreversible damage. There were things I liked about this book such as each chapter giving butterfly factoids that related to how the story was moving. I also liked that the girls in the Revelers clique had a little more depth than stereotypical "popular" girls in other YA noviels I've read. On the other hand there were not so good moments such as events with Anne Marie, Maggie's first Berkeley friend, and the ending. Although events leading to the end were a tad predictable, I do give the author credit for not wrapping the story up in a neat little bow. I give this book a strong 4 stars and recommend to others.

This book was written by the daughter of Paul Zindel, a young adult author from the 70's and 80's. It's nice to see the family talent continues. Because of the breakup of her parent's marriage, Maggie moves from Montague, New Jersey to New York City. Her grandfather pays for her to attend the exclusive all-girl prep school; Berkley Prep. Maggie feels totally out of place with all the glittering offspring of wealthy business moguls and media tycoons. Then, one night she sneaks into a (need a word) party with the cream de la cream of the school and their boyfriends and just happens to save the most glittering of all the butterflies, Victoria and her bf Lexi from getting caught by Victoria's father. Once she's noticed by the glitterati, it doesn't take long before she's invited to join the Revelers, a very small select legacy group at Berkley. The group seems great to Maggie, at first, with new friends and the use of their ritzy homes and weekend getaways. But Maggie has some reservations about the Revelers habit of tracking all their classmates secrets on a place they call The Wall. But just writing down their secrets doesn't harm anyone, does it? After all Victoria's mother did the same thing when she went to Berkley. Well written with characters that are not as superficial as they might seem on the surface. None of the characters actively means to hurt anyone, so they're not the clichéd spoiled witches that appear in so many other teen books. This was an engrossing book from beginning to end.

Reviewed by Spencer Zaborowski (age 13) for Readers Views (5/08) "The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies" by Lizabeth Zindel is an amusing, interesting fiction book about a girl named Maggie who just moved to Manhattan and gets a chance to start over and make new friends at a snobbish, all-girls school. She spends her senior year there, and it is nothing at all like she is used to! She feels out of place, and it is very awkward for her to try to make friends and have them accept her. She can't seem to do anything right! One night at a party, she meets three of the most popular girls in the school - Victoria, Lexi and Sydney. Maggie finds out they belong to a secret club called The Revelers. To her surprise, Maggie also finds out that they want her to join The Revelers also. At the party she meets a very cute boy named Connar. I laughed at the part on the bus to school one day after the party, when they first began to talk to each other. Victoria and her friends are very rich, and one day after school, they show Maggie a place called "The Wall" at Victoria's house. "The Wall" is just that - a wall that has written on it not gossip, but the truth about what is happening in other kids' and teachers' lives. Victoria tells Maggie that each week she has to add tTT's (little truths and big truths) in order to stay in this club. Maggie doesn't like this wall, but since she doesn't want to get in trouble with her friends, she has to keep the wall a secret and add to the information on it. Maggie gets caught up in the life of the club, and a lot of misunderstandings among her other friends happen. I enjoyed this book very much. It was interesting and easy to follow. It had some funny parts, and parts that wanted to make you jump inside the book and pull Maggie back from what she is doing! She can't seem to see that someone will get hurt because of all the things that are said. I liked all of the characters, and they seemed very realistic. It also made me think about what happens when people gossip - even though the girls called it the truth, and did not think of it as gossip, there were still some hurtful things that were written. I especially liked the ending - it was suspenseful. I think that teens and young adult women will like "The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies."

Maggie Wishnick has moved from a small town in New Jersey to the Big Apple and is about to start as a senior at the prestigious Berkley Prep. On her first day, she meets Anne Marie, who is smart and friendly, but not one of the powerful girls of Berkley. Those girls would be Victoria, Lexi, and Sydney. But those three treat Maggie as if she is invisible. After hearing about a secret, invitation-only party being given by Victoria on the gym bus, Maggie crashes the party. Not only does she meet Connor, a super hot boy, but she also saves the day when the cops come to trash the party and Victoria, Lexi, and Sydney need a place to hide out. After that fateful night, the three popular girls embrace Maggie, much to her surprise. After a pledge week for Maggie, she is accepted into their tight group, that they've named the Revelers. The girls help Maggie capture Connor's attention, and learn how to be more fashionable and popular. But the girls have secrets. And not just secrets of their own. But secrets on everyone they go to school with. And on one fateful night, all of the secrets are revealed, and Maggie is on the outside once again. Each chapter of the book begins with interesting facts on the life cycle and migration pattern of butterflies, reminiscent of Sue Monk Kidd's THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. And for those wanting more information, the references are listed for more details. The story of the new girl wanting to join in with the popular girls and then something bad happening has been told before, but Ms. Zindel gives the story more excitement and depth. The reader gets a hint that all is not as it seems, especially with Victoria, but Ms. Zindel keeps all the details hidden until the night of the party when the secrets are revealed to all. The story moves along quickly, keeping the reader engrossed. Though you may think that you are supposed to find Victoria, Lexi, and Sydney to be the evil ones, there really are no truly mean and evil characters that other stories seem to include. They may not be as innocent and righteous as Maggie, but they do have some good qualities. This is the first story I've read by Ms. Zindel, but growing up, I was a fan of her father's work. I'm pleased to say that she has become an author on her own abilities, and I will definitely be checking out GIRL OF THE MOMENT next. For an entertaining read of life of the rich private school set, this is a great book to pick up! Reviewed by: Jaglvr