Bad Girls Don't Die (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

High-school junior Alexis seems to be the class bad girl, complete with snide remarks, rebellious attitude, and listless motivation. At home, her overachieving mom has alienated her more laid-back dad, while her doll­-obsessed, 13-year-old sister, Kasey, periodically morphs from a blue-eyed, ordinary girl to a green-eyed, evil child plotting against others in their small town. What has possessed Kasey and their family’s beautiful Victorian home? Alender’s first novel is both a mystery and a trip into the paranormal, in which a child taunted years ago returns to exact revenge for her violent death. It falls to Alexis to sort out the historical details and protect not just herself and her family, but also the descendants of the girls implicated in the original tragic death. With just enough violence, suspense, and romance to keep readers turning the pages, this is a promising debut for a new young author and will be a popular addition to any YA collection. Grades 7-10. --Frances Bradburn

Product Description

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude.

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (April 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423108760
• ISBN-13: 978-1423108764
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #153,712 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad Girls Don't Die, May 19, 2009

By	Laura (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

I love mysteries and the paranormal, but add that to a teenager's life within a dysfunctional family and you have a really great book. It's very well written with believable characters that had me in goosebumps some of the time and fighting back tears (joyful or sad I'm not going to say!) in the end. This may be Katie Alender's first book but it won't be her last.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A ghost story for people who don't like ghost stories--and those who do, too, June 8, 2009

By	Bookduck (Midwest) - See all my reviews

I didn't think I'd like this book; it doesn't take much to scare me out of my wits, and I don't typically read novels dealing with ghosts and possession.

But I read this one anyway. And I LOVED it.

Bad Girls Don't Die is more than a ghost story. There's a touch of romance and an air of mystery, and a challenge to really get to know people before slapping a label on them and deciding you can't be friends with them--a mistake most people, including me, frequently make.

Bad Girls has a well-paced, character-driven, intriguing plot that kept me turning the pages for hours when I only meant to read for minutes. Furthermore, if I had a Top 10 list of my favorite fictional people, Alexis would be on it. She's smart, funny, unafraid of getting her hands dirty, and I really enjoyed her first-person narration. And she has pink hair!

On a couple side notes, Bad Girls is a pretty squeaky clean read, ghosts and all. There's no sex, drugs, or gratuitous swearing--and I really appreciated that. (The cleanliness also felt natural, which is another plus. Cleanliness can feel just as forced as "edginess".) Thank you, Katie Alender, for acknowledging that those things are not a part of every teenager's life. Also, while Bad Girls is exceptionally well put-together, the ending wrapped up a little too quickly--and awkwardly--for me. But it fit. Overall, I have no large complaints.

If Twilight is a vampire book for people who don't like vampire books, Bad Girls Don't Die is a ghost story for people who don't like ghost stories. And I highly recommend it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely engrossing and downright creepy, May 5, 2009

By	The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Alexis Warren is a tough, sarcastic loner who is nursing a grudge against the cheerleading team for driving away the only friend she ever had. To deal with her loneliness, she turns to photography and seeks shelter in her dark room. After one peculiar night photographing her 100 year old house, Alexis's sister Kasey begins acting odd. She becomes spiteful and demanding, and she has extreme mood swings. At first, Alexis attributes her strange behavior to the ups and downs of being in middle school--but after a series of accidents that may not have been accidents after all, Alexis has to ask herself, Is something more sinister at work?

Snarky, engaging, and downright creepy, Bad Girls Don't Die is one stellar debut novel; Katie Alender has created one of the most engrossing and consuming novels of the year. The witty, casual tone of the novel, told from Alexis's point of view initially hooks readers, but it is the darker undertones concealed by Kasey's sweet face and her "innocent" doll collection that really ensnares readers and makes Bad Girls Don't Die such an unpredictable and tantalizing read. Alexis is a wonderfully dynamic character--she is strong and opinionated and learns how to deal with her issues in a mature manner, but along the way she also learns to recognize similar qualities in those she previously judged, making her likable without being cliché. Though the haunted house and possession stories have been done many times before, Alender's fresh slant on the topic will enthrall readers and leave them just a bit creeped out.