Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Shepard, Sara. Pretty Little Liars. HarperTeen, New York, 2007. 304 pages. $8.99 ISBN 13: 9780060887322

Delicious scandal! From situations that range from underage drinking to eating disorders to sexual relationships (and identity), the author captures teen readers in this page turner. Five privileged girls share a secret, the kind that they must take to the grave. When Alison, the most popular of the group goes missing during a sleepover, the mystery is left unsolved. The remaining four girls eventually forge new friendships and move on, socially separate from one another. Three years pass and, unbeknownst to each other, the four girls are contacted individually by “A,” who threatens to expose their secrets. Could it be Alison that is texting and IMing? Her body was never found and she had been the only one to know each of their secrets -- but wait. Is there -- or, was there -- someone watching? Suspense and shock begin here and move quickly in the first of four novels in the series by Sara Shepard. You won’t want to put this one down.

Ooh, baby. This is so-o-o not your everyday young adult novel. A few times, I caught myself wondering why the author held back -- arresting certain actions at critical points – when so much else was, well, raw. I also noted my concern for the wellbeing of the characters and their emotional pain, even though I had sworn'em off some 10 or 20 pages back for some wrongdoing. It’s due to Shepard’s addition of dysfunction to these characters that adds to the book's appeal. They are each fragile, which is a stark contrast to their actions. Readers see the façade of an at-first-glance perfect life crumbling and we can sympathize and understand why each girl acts as she does.

This was an interesting read for me, with mature content way out of my comfort zone. But children's lit has been my concentration and this is a real growth experience. It has me thinking about challenged and banned books. Where will they take me, what will I uncover...

Age range of readers: I gave this a lot of thought. I'm thinking mid-to-upper teens. I don't want my 10 year old reading this yet -- not because of its content (kids know about these issues), but because the teen voice is strong, which creates the realistic characters in this book. At 10, I think glossing over these issues is enough, but wait -- that doesn't seem right either. There's a world of difference between
A) being presented with an issue that someone glossed over (usu. a parent or a teacher) and
B) experiencing that issue personally, such as through involvement with a character.

The latter (B) is the beauty of the reading process, but my momma half won't separate. 10 is so young!