Bad Girl Blues [Library Binding]

Sally Warner (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Do friendships have to change?

Quinney Todd has been best friends with Brynnie and Marguerite her whole life. But now Brynnie and Marguerite are fighting, leaving Quinney caught in the middle. Even worse, Marguerite has turned into Lake Geneva's bad girl, and everyone in school knows all about it. Or they think they do.

Quinney wants to be loyal, but Marguerite keeps pushing her away. And when Quinney's mom invites Marguerite to live with them for a few weeks -- in Quinney's room, no less! -- Quinney finally has to face the question she's avoided all along: Does she even want to be friends with Marguerite anymore?

Poor Quinney's got the bad girl blues...!

In this funny and poignant novel, Sally Warner explores what it's like to discover that not everyone grows up at the same time -- or in the same way.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Quinney Todd, the level-headed middle-grader introduced in Totally Confidential, finds her friendships in trouble in Bad Girl Blues by Sally Warner. She, Marguerite and Brynn have always been best friends, but then Marguerite starts acting reckless. Brynn wants nothing to do with Marguerite, but Quinney doesn't have that option because her parents take Marguerite in to shield her from her own father's anger. A subplot includes Quinney's volunteer job at an animal shelter.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-Warner explores the dark side of friendship-disloyalty, emotional distance, pettiness-through sixth graders Quinney and Marguerite, friends who grow apart after Marguerite skips school and goes joyriding with inebriated high-school boys in their small town in upstate New York. They have an accident, ruining Marguerite's already fragile reputation. Because of the girls' friendship, Quinney also suffers. However, her parents invite Marguerite to stay with them indefinitely while her family participates in therapy. The girls grapple with making their friendship work despite their growing differences. The profundity of the situation notwithstanding, the characters seem flat and the conclusion is simplistic. Neither plot nor character driven, Bad Girl seems situation driven. Warner takes one event and stretches its impact over an entire school year. However, she does convey the multilayered facets of friendship. Miss Mudge, the owner of the pet shelter at which Quinney works, advises, "You don't have to take care of your friends, Quinney-you just need to love them." This remains the principal theme.
Laura Glaser, Euless Junior High School, TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060282754
• ISBN-13: 978-0060282752
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,952,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)