Simone Chen

Simone Chen
Bratfest At Tiffany's
Lisi Harrison
Realistic fiction
Just right
p. 102

1. In my book, the Briarwood school got flooded, so all the boys are going to go to school at the all-girls' school OCD for a year. Massie and her friends feel threatened by this because they think their alpha status will be in jeopardy because all the attention will be on the boys. Because of this, the Pretty Committee (Massie and her 4 best friends) is on a "boyfast", and cannot talk, text, IM any boys. If they do it will mean immediate expulsion from the Pretty Committee. Claire and Alicia don't know if they can commit to the boyfast, and they are forced to choose between friendship and love. Since the Briarwood boys started going to school at OCD, it has become too crowded for everybody, so the principle decided to move some of the kids out of the school. Those kids have to go to school in a dusty old trailer. These kids unfortunately include Massie, Kristen, Claire and Dylan- but not Alicia.

2. So far, I like this book, but not that much. The plot twists and turns a lot, and it's sometimes hard to keep up with everything that's going on. Some of the things they talk about you can only understand if you've read all of the past books. Even though I have, some of them I read awhile ago so I don't remember them that clearly. This only adds to all the confusion. I do like the author's unique style of writing. She does a very good job describing the main characters- their personality traits, interests, and more. I feel like I know them and can relate to them.

3. A theme I've noticed is the power of jealousy. Massie started the whole boyfast thing because she was jealous that the Briarwood boys were getting more attention than the Pretty Committee was. The boyfast was supposed to unite the Pretty Committee and make them even closer, but instead it's starting to tear their friendship apart. Claire is a mess because all she can think about is Cam, her ex-crush, and she's jealous that he has moved on and now likes a different girl. Jealousy is very powerful and can do horrible things like destroy friendships, even if the jealousy is about petty things.

4. My favorite character is Alicia, a member of the Pretty Committee. She's my favorite because she doesn't think that's it's fair that she has to choose between the Pretty Committee and Josh (her crush). I agree- why can't she have both? So she makes a risky move that could cause her her spot in the Pretty Committee and secretly breaks the boyfast. I like this move because it shows that Alicia isn't afraid to do what she wants, not what Massie tells her to. She's standing up for herself and what she thinks is right, even if she's doing it behind Massie's back.

5. My least favorite character is Massie, because she's telling her friends what they can or cannot do, and who they can or cannot hang out with. If she were a real friend, she wouldn't make her best friends choose between her and a boy. Her attitude is sometimes very stubborn and stuck-up, because she doesn't ever want to admit that she was wrong or that somebody is better than her. She thinks she has possession of people (for example, she controls her friends and bosses them around) and things that aren't necessary hers- for example she often refers to OCD as "her" school, and table 18 is "her" table.

6. I predict Massie is going to break the boyfast by crushing on one of the Briarwood boys. She will find out that Alicia had already broken the boyfast by hanging out with a boy, and will kick her out of the Pretty Committee. But then the other girls will find out that Massie had also broken the boyfast, and they could all get mad at her. The boyfast will have destroyed their friendship, but later they will probably make up and become friends again.