The Ruling Class - Hardcover

Pascal, Francine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689873328 ISBN 13: 9780689873324

Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2004

Synopsis

Desperately desiring to be one of the popular clique of girls who rule the school through their insults and bullying, Myrna Fry is willing to accept almost anything in order to win the friendship of the clique s queen, Jeannette Sue, but when unfashionable Twyla Gay Stark arrives on the scene, Myrna anticipates that great changes may be ahead.

About this title

About the Author

Francine Pascal is one of the most popular fiction writers for teenagers today and the creator of several best-selling series, including Fearless and Sweet Valley High, which was also made into a television series. She has written several novels, including My First Love and Other Disasters, My Mother Was Never a Kid, and Love & Betrayal & Hold the Mayo. In writing her stories, Ms. Pascal is inspired by her own memories of growing up and by the experiences of her three daughters.

Francine Pascal lives in New York and the south of France.

Reviews

Grade 9 Up–In a wealthy suburb of Dallas, the top clique in the school rules with snobbery, money, and style. When Twyla Gay arrives, she doesn't fit in at all because of her clothes and her name. But she mostly sticks out because she is poor. When the Ruling Class begins to target her, Twyla Gay fights back with her only friend, Deena, deemed the school slut by the vicious RC. The story alternates between Twyla Gay, who is determined to get revenge rather than drop out of school like her mother did, and Myrna Fry, desperate to belong to the RC and whose ignorance, racism, and pure idiocy can be hard to read. Pascal has created a frothy book filled with the names of hot designers and musicians. The topic of bullying among girls is timely but rendered with a simplicity that doesn't do the issue justice. Additionally, the only fully rendered characters are Twyla Gay and Deena. The others are one-dimensional cutouts who seem to exist only to make a point. Despite its problems, this book will be read with glee by any teenage girl who is on the outside of a clique.–Tasha Saecker, Caestecker Public Library, Green Lake, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 8-11. When she moves to an upscale Dallas neighborhood, 16-year-old Twyla Gay becomes the target of bullying so ferocious that she considers dropping out of school: "If this kind of pain were physical, I'd be bleeding to death." Instead, she takes on her tormentors--members of an elite clique of girls, the Ruling Class, led by wealthy, gorgeous, and zit-free Jeanette Sue. Pascal's latest novel, narrated in multiple teens' voices, joins the many recent titles that unerringly probe the "mean girl" phenomenon. A few characters read as caricatures, particularly ruthless, superficial Jeanette Sue and bigoted, painfully naive Myrna, who aspires to join the clique. But many teens will recognize the spot-on brutality and subtleties of female bullying: the victims' denial and rage, the tormentors' fragile balance of power, the hysteria of rumors fueled by homophobia and prejudice. The designer labels and music references will date quickly, but readers will want to talk about the questions, especially how to overcome a bully. Must you become one yourself? Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689873328
• ISBN 13: 9780689873324
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192