Amandine [Paperback]

Adele Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Her first week at a new school, shy, plain Delia befriends Amandine, not anticipating the dangerous turns their friendship will take.

--This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Griffin (The Other Shepards) once again examines the nuances of adolescent relationships in this suspenseful novel about a magnetic, mentally unstable freshman and her hold over a new girl in town. "I met Amandine on the last day of my first week at James DeWolf High School," begins 14-year-old Delia's first-person narrative. Through Delia's perspective as a newcomer from New York City, Griffin paints a portrait of the exotic Amandine in detailed strokes, capturing her many disguises ("It's my Natalie Wood from West Side Story costume," she tells Delia to explain one get-up, her full black-and-white striped skirt, red lipstick and gold hoop earrings). Caught between her fascination with/repulsion to Amandine and a need to satisfy her mother's pressure to find friends, Delia invites Amandine to a sleepover at her house and starts in motion an irrevocable chain of events. Griffin foreshadows the denouement with the little lies Amandine plants early on (she was chosen for the New York City Ballet Company's corps de ballet but developed shinsplints at the last minute; she danced at the same Miami nightclub as Madonna, who then stole Amandine's dance moves and got all the credit, etc.). But as Delia begins to detect the depth of Amandine's cruelty and deception, Amandine sharpens her claws and comes up with a lie insidious enough to damage Delia's entire family. With shades of the psychological eeriness and taut suspense of Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye, this is a riveting cautionary tale. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-When the talented and outrageous Amandine asks shy and introspective Delia if she would like to see her drawings of "the ugliest things I ever saw in my entire life," Delia can't resist. Repulsed by the sick and twisted images, she is nonetheless drawn in by the flamboyant girl's bewitching personality. Hungry for friendship, the newcomer is reeled into Amandine's peculiar world. Her zeal and theatrical imagination are tossed lavishly like confetti even as her tainted viewpoint seeps in and unsettles Delia, providing an exhilarating, if consuming, relationship. She views the world through a skewed image, accentuating people's flaws and exploiting their vulnerabilities. Overeating, chronic loneliness, perfect parents that close her out of their cozy-couple space, and "borrowing" items from her schoolmates are all real-life troubles that weigh on Delia. When Amandine's clasp becomes too manipulative, Delia must extract herself from the tingling excitement such a friendship offers. She is ill prepared for Amandine's vengeance. With false accusations, Amandine attacks the fabric of her friend's family. At this point in the novel, Delia's inner strength emerges, unleashing her sensitivity and intelligence. This is a powerful story with real characters. Delia's steady and convincing voice will pull teens inextricably toward Amandine's ugly promise. Griffin reveals two girls with whom readers may identify, will certainly empathize, and will remember for a long time.

Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Hyperion (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786809914
• ISBN-13: 978-0786809912
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,803,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Look for All You Never Wanted (Random House) coming out in 2012.

Also Tighter is out this spring in paperback. With a really awesome new jacket.

And, if you're still interested, check out www.tighterthebook.com

You can find me on twitter, facebook, or on the web at www.adelegriffin.com.

Drop me a note and I promise to answer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistically Scary Portrayal of Controlling Friendship, June 25, 2002

By 

Jesse Penitent "zekaille" (Somewhere, Out There) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amandine (Hardcover)

After reading the other reviews, I have to wonder if I
read the same book. People are calling this simplistic
and contrived, unoriginal and boring. Someone else
(whose emotional state I'm worried about) says lonely,
awkward Delia is "the nut case" and claims Amandine,
who is pure sociopath all the way, "doesn't do anything
wrong." Sorry, but I think intentional lies used as
"punishment", damaging libel and playing two people off
each other is "doing plenty wrong."

Maybe this story struck home with me because I had an
Amandine in my high school past. She was also a master of
playing her few friends off of each other, dramatizing horrors
that never existed for the benefit of teachers and parents,
and telling outrageous lies about herself in order to be the
center of attention. And, like Amandine, she had lots of
talent that went wasted because it was more fun to destroy
other people's lives.

No, the story is not loud and melodramatic. It is quiet and
subtle as Delia tries to sort out what her friend expects of her
tries to please parents who expect too little of her (and who
are clearly disappointed in her) and who has only one really
sympathetic adult to whom she can turn.

If you haven't read it, please don't go by the other customer reviews. If you are trapped in a friendship like the one Delia has with Amandine, it might help to know that you aren't alone.
And if you DON'T know an Amandine, consider yourself lucky and read this as a true horror story of what can happen in such a
friendship.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two thumbs up, way up..., July 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Amandine (Hardcover)

*Amandine* is a well-crafted look at adolescent female friendship between two outcasts, one needy (Delia), the other manipulative (Amandine). For a while the friendship works: the flamboyant, unconventional, artistic Amandine enthralling the school newcomer, Delia. Then, slowly at first, complications arise that test the friendship, complications brought about by Amandine's unpredictable, attention-seeking behavior, her mysterious and dark nature, and the girls' tense relationship with their parents. Competition, envy, lying, and deceit all start to eat away at the friendship. A third girl, Mary, is pulled into the increasingly complex web Delia and Amandine have constructed and is used as a pawn. The situation turns ugly as bad behavior, revenge and self-protection stretch what was once a positive relationship to the breaking point. Adele Griffin realistically portrays the inner feelings and vicissitudes of teenage friendship within the pressure cooker that is modern-day high school. The writing is elegant and understated, the narrative illuminative of the toll dishonesty in all its forms can take on a relationship. Griffin has a real feel for what makes each main character tick, which makes them come alive for the reader. I should know: I taught high school English for 15+ years and am now a middle school librarian. I see elements of all these characters in many of the students I work with, and will recommend this book to both kids and adults as an honest look at a very important slice of teenage life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frightening story that hits close to home, November 15, 2005

By 

Jason Ayoub (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amandine (Paperback)

In the very first chapter of this book, a girl is asked by another if she wants to take a peek at "some of the ugliest things she's ever seen." Thus begins Amandine, a dark tale about how friendship can go wrong in the early teen-age years. Griffin writes skillfully about how people are sometimes attracted to ugliness, especially if they are lonely and looking for fun and excitement, like the protaganist, Delia. In her longing for friendship and acceptance, Delia ignores her better judgement and befriends Amandine, overlooking the warning signs until it's too late.

Based on the editorial reviews, I was expecting some kind of horrifying psycological drama. But the book is actually more tame than I'd expected. Amandine only does one really alarming thing, telling a serious lie in a childish attempt to break up Delia's family. Other than that her behaviour is never very alarming nor unusual - she skips school, draws cruel drawings of her classmates and does other things you'd expect from a slightly maladjusted highschool freshmen. But this familarity only brings the novel closer to home, especially for freshmen girls. The book seems to be written especially for them, and it's well worth their time to read it and analyse their friendships while in the process. It's quite likely there's at least one Amandine at their own high school.