The Clique #7: It's Not Easy Being Mean (Clique Series) [ペーパーバック]

The Pretty Committee thought for sure that they would find the key to the heavenly room, but who could be sure when Losers Beyond Repair (LBRs) like Layne Abeley had gotten one also? The key was to a room that staff did not know about and only Octavian Country Day's eighth grade alphas were given the key. However, Skye Hamilton was the alpha when Massie was in seventh grade, and she made a riddle of finding it so Massie and some LBRs would be competing. Claire Lyons, an ex-clique member, found the key and made it back in to the clique in exchange for the key, which the clique brought to Skye and saw the ahb-viously fantastic room. The whole book led an interesting and intriguing journey to that point, and I wish there were more.

One good thing about It's Not Easy Being Mean was the constant humor, even when Massie was worried sick about the key. She would insult people with witty little jokes that made her look smart and other people look woefully dumb. One morning, Claire was wearing a heavy jacket and looked nothing like the other clique members who were wearing designer names and no jackets, and Massie asked her "Are you a zit?" Of course Claire said "no," and Massie asked "Then why are you all covered up?" Later, when they were deciding how the key would be given to the clique, or "...you must be poor....cuz you're not making any cents." When Dylan dropped a plastic bag on the ground with no regard for the environment, Massie asked her if she was a cat, and when she said no, she inquired "Then what's with the litter?"

I also liked how Claire was always getting embarrassed, like when she was getting ready for an audition and had to wear eyebrow extensions and outrageous black hair for a few days, or when her little brother Todd sold her pajamas with a blueberry stain on the back of the pants to a fan of her stardom in the movie Dial L for Loser. Claire was also embarrassed when the Pretty Committee was rating their outfits and she didn't even want hers rated because of its insufficient level of Designer names and over use of jackets.

The superlative part of the book was how Massie Block, the `alpha' (at least in seventh grade) tried to get someone to like her, even if she was alpha in the eighth grade. When she went to talk to her at her house, she brought mini doughnuts because she knew that Skye liked mini things, and when she had the key, she couldn't just walk up and tell her, she had to prance in front of her seats at the soccer game until she gave up and wrote a note, supposedly from Chris Abeley, to Skye. Massie even admitted to herself that she was covetous of Skye, though Skye and not of Skye's DSL Daters (her clique).

It's Not Easy Being Mean showed the weaknesses of even the "alphas" of middle school, like Massie coveting Skye's reputation and the key and Skye writing a poem about Chris Abeley, which shows that no one is perfect. It showed that you can have innumerable friends even if you have a smaller house (like Skye), and it did all this while telling about a clique of girls that you love to read about because of their ah-mazing lives and Pretty Committee adventures.

-K. Carson

The clique is back at OCD! The new school year brings drama and a treasure hunt. Throughout the years every student at OCD has heard of a secret room that teachers forgot--an urban legend. When a mysterious upperclassman named Skye brings news that the room is real, Massie is instantly intrigued. The legend of the room says that whoever holds the key is the true alpha for their grade at OCD. Massie must have it.

Skye gives them a poem that will lead them to where the key is hidden, but the problem is deciphering it. The poem has been handed out to other girls in Massie's grade and the hunt begins.

With tiresome soccer practice, trips to NYC for agents and auditions, and trips to the mall, the Pretty Committee finds that the time they have must be spent wisely and that they must unite as one, or the alpha-ship will fall into the wrong hands--an LBR.

Lisi Harrison has done it again! This new CLIQUE novel is one you don't want to miss. The girls are sneakier, meaner, and will do anything to get what they want. Lisi Harrison has created a series all will love. Once you pick it up you won't be able to put it down!

Reviewed by: Jeremey

The Clique books are the perfect books I have been looking for. They are cool, lol hilarious and much more. The seventh, was no surprise. The Pretty Comittee have to find a key that unlocks a secret room for alphas. It is under the pillow of a Briarwood boy... but which one?? Also, Claire gets offered a role in Princess Nobody... will she take the role and leave Westchester? This was definetely one of the best in the series and I can't wait for the eighth to come out in August!!!!