So Not The Drama: A Del Rio Bay Clique Novel
"Popularity is a drug. . . . You honest to God need it." When Mina starts high school, the social scene in the cafeteria is the center of her world, and she longs to be part of the glam clique of snotty black rich kids. Then she is caught up in a class project on prejudice with three other students, and she sees close-up what's behind their public faces: Kelly, the rich, shy Puerto Rican; Jacinta, who lives in the projects; and Jessica, the snob. Meanwhile, Mina quarrels with her best friend (is it because Lizzie is white?) and worries that another friend, Michael, is being called "fag." The first book in the Del Rio Bay Clique series is too long, and its huge cast and constantly changing viewpoint slow things down further, as does the occasionally messagey sociology stuff. But the fast, funny colloquial talk (including e-mails and IMs) will probably pull readers into the contemporary friendship story, which revels in a rich diversity of race, color, and class.Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved