Product Description

The social minefields most privileged middle-school girls drive the over-the-top drama in this addictive new book, set in suburban New York City's Westchester County. Massie Block: With her glossy brunette bob and Whitestrip smile, Massie is the uncontested ruler of The Clique and the rest of the social scene at Octavian Country Day, an exclusive private school in Westchester, New York. Dylan Marvil: Massie's second in command who divides her time between sucking up to Massie and sucking down Atkins shakes to try to get rid of the extra fifteen pounds that won't seem to leave her hips alone. Alicia Rivera: As sneaky as she is beautiful, Alicia floats easily under adult radar because she seems so 'sweet.' Would love to take Massie's throne one day. Just might do it. Kristen Gregory: She's been dying to fit in ever since her parents went broke. She's smart, hardworking and will insult you to tears faster than you can say 'scholarship kid.' And then there's Claire Lyons, the new girl in two-year old GAP overalls from Florida, who is clearly not Clique material. The only problem is that Claire's family is staying in the guest house on the Blocks' massive estate while they look for a new home! Claire's future looks worse than a bad Prada knockoff. But with a little luck and a lot of scheming, Claire might just come up smelling like Chanel Mademoiselle....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #233796 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–Claire Lyons moves with her parents from Florida to wealthy Westchester County, NY. Until they can get settled, the family stays in the guest house of Mr. Lyons's college buddy, who happens to have a daughter who is also in seventh grade. Expected to welcome her, Massie instead chooses to make Claire's life miserable for no other reason than she's the new girl. Massie enlists her clique of friends at Octavian Country Day School, all part of the beautiful and popular crowd, to help with the harassment, which ranges from catty comments on Claire's clothes to spilling red paint on her white jeans in a conspicuous spot. Tired of it all, Claire tries to fight back, but then the abuse worsens. The book has trendy references kids will love, including Starbucks in the school, designer clothes, and PalmPilots for list making. However, this trendiness doesn't make up for the shallowness of the characters or the one-dimensional plot. Nor is the cruelty of the clique redeemed with any sort of a satisfying ending. The conclusion leaves one with the feeling that a sequel is in the works. Amy Goldman Koss's The Girls (Dial, 2000) shows the same cruelty of girls with a more realistic story and resolution.–Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Head-to-toe Calvin Klein is in. So is Ralph Lauren. Burberry is so out. And as for Claire's platform navy Keds and two-year-old, white Gap jeans--doesn't she know that clothes are like milk or cheese with a "best-before date" and a limited shelf life? Claire is clueless when she enters seventh grade, a newcomer and total outsider when it comes to [...] Massie's friends at an exclusive private girls' school. Massie leads her clique in humiliating [Claire] (including splashing those jeans with red paint to make it look like Claire has her period), and the instant messaging is very mean. It's also hilarious, especially because the viewpoints switch between the two [girls] and Claire gets her revenge--sort of. There's too much detail about how the superwealthy live, but Harrison, who writes for MTV, knows peer pressure, and her first novel has fun with the tyranny of brand names ("she was wearing . . ." is a constant). Buy this quickly, though, because the very specifics that teens will recognize will be "so out" before the year is over. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

The Clique, book Review
Meet Claire Lyons and her family; Claire is a twelve year old girl from Orlando, Florida. But when Claire's family moves to Westchester, things start to get weird. Massie Block is rich, cool, spoiled: you name it. Massie is the trendsetter and most popular girl in her grade at Octavian Country Day School and when she finds out her dad's old friend Jay Lyons and his family will be staying in her family's guesthouse, let's just say Massie's less than pleased. For no particular reason at all Massie decided to make Claire her new target at school; now Massie and her clique are making Claire's school life very miserable. Although all Claire wants is to desperately be in Massie's clique; Massie won't allow that to happen. Will Massie lighten up and allow Claire into her clique, or will Claire find some way to seek revenge? To find out read the second novel in this exciting series: Best Friends For Never. My opinion of this book was that it was a great book because it was exciting and fun to read. I recommend this book for girls ages 11-14. Have fun reading!

the clique
The Clique is a somewhat funny book, but more for teenagers. In my opinion the Clique is an amazing book. It is about a popular group of four girls named Massie, Dylan, Kristen, and Alicia. Their lives were perfect until a girl from Florida names Claire moved into Massie's guest house. She moved into Massie's house because Massie's dad is friends with Claire's dad. It is so hard for Massie to have to deal with Claire because Clair and Massie's parents force them to be friends. And the thing is Massie is popular and she thinks Claire is just a loser. In my opinion I think the Clique is a great book for the ages 11-15. I think girls that get bullied at school by other girls should read this book. I think this because Massie likes to bully Claire in the book. Well, do u think Claire will become a part of Massie's popularity group? You have to read all the clique books to find out. Best friends for Never and Revenge of the Wannabees are the second and third books of the clique novel.

Gossip Girl... for the younger set
Basically, I picked this up for no real reason other then boredom.

But it turned out to be an interesting look at the cliques that exist in the middle school years.

While I have been out of both middle school and high school for several years (out of high school 5 years), I love YA books, and I did enjoy the book on some level.

I will buy the follow up book if only because the characters intrigue me, even if the subject matter is a little immature for me.

Of course, if you aren't interested in the behaviour patterns of 12/13 year old girls and you are older it probably won't be a good book for you.

But if you have a little sister, this might keep her out of your books....