Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do? [Hardcover]

Cynthia Voigt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Mikey Elsinger and Margalo Epps are back in this fifth book in the series. Improbable best friends since fifth grade, the girls are now in ninth grade. Margalo has more than $200 stolen from her and tries to find the thieves. Mikey is thrown off the tennis team because she refuses to follow the advice of her coach and cheat on line calls. The girls both come up with a scheme to get rid of the bullies who are tormenting their dorky friend Hadrian and help a friend whose boyfriend is threatening to ruin her reputation if she doesn't have sex with him. Most teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators are no help at all; in fact, they add to the problems. Much of the book centers on the girls' table in the cafeteria, where the jockeying for position, one-upmanship, self-involvement, and shallowness are so obnoxious that it is as difficult to care about these kids as it is to keep the flat minor characters straight. Unfamiliar details, particularly about the girls' families, make this book difficult to read on its own. Clearly not up to the standards of some of the author's award-winning novels, this latest installment should be purchased only for hardcore fans of the series.–Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. In this installment in the Bad Girls series, which began in 1996, Mikey and Margalo, now in ninth grade, face ethical issues: Mikey's tennis coach is subtly encouraging her to cheat, and Margalo must find a thief after a teacher refuses to become involved. Although there are some humorous moments, a lot of them fall flat, and the dialogue is unconvincing (Would a high-school bad girl really call someone a "no-good ratfink lunchpail bum"?). Yes, the girls are involved in noble causes and are dismayed by the lack of adult and peer concern, but the situation isn't believable. Voigt's previous books are better demonstrations of her skill, but diehard series fans will want this. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum/Anne Schwartz Books (June 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689824742
• ISBN-13: 978-0689824746
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,184,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynthia Voigt won the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor Award for A Solitary Blue, both part of the beloved Tillerman Cycle. She is also the author of many other celebrated books for middle-grade and teen readers, including Izzy, Willy-Nilly and Jackaroo. She was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 1995 for her work in literature, and the Katahdin Award in 2004. She lives in Maine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, November 20, 2006

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do? (Hardcover)

The fourth book about the adventures of Bad Girls Mikey Elsinger and Margalo Epps, BAD GIRLS, BAD GIRLS, WHATCHA GONNA DO? happens over the course of Mikey and Margalo's ninth grade year. They've started high school, so, of course, things are going to be different! The two are rather surprised to find that people are asking them for advice, but, of course, between the two of them, there's always a plan.

The difficulties they face include an unfair tennis coach, bullies, thieves, and, well, ninth grade. Being Mikey and Margalo, they always come up with a way to fix things. It doesn't matter if it's against the rules; injustices have got to be corrected! It is, however, surprising that they have so much help with what they do; in fact, there's almost an entire lunch table full of people putting their various talents to use helping Mikey and Margalo!

Mikey and Margalo, despite the title of the book, do not seem to be particularly bad. In fact, they are almost too good to be realistic in the causes for which they choose to fight. They're fighting school bullies and trying to get the lines called fairly in tennis matches, not stealing lunch money or throwing spitballs at their teachers. However, even though they aren't the bad girls that the title suggests, Mikey and Margalo are fairly realistic and likeable characters.

I vaguely remember reading a couple of the previous books in the series a few years ago, and Mikey and Margalo were a lot more amusing then. This book, while at times a fun read, also had times where it dragged on and on. This book would have been five stars, had it been a couple hundred pages shorter (it's over four-hundred pages long)!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

4.0 out of 5 stars A Little Disappointed!, September 23, 2008

By 

Sandra McLeod Humphrey "Children's Author and... (Minnetonka, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do? (Hardcover)

Compared to some of the other teen novels I've been reading lately, this one came up a little short. Some of the situations seemed a little "contrived" and lacking in credibility, and the characters seemed to be too stereotypical and lacking in depth. It was still an enjoyable read, but I guess I was expecting "more" from such a fine author.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars better than I expected, December 14, 2006

By 

E. M. Bristol "bibliophile" (boston, mass) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do? (Hardcover)

Having heard the protagonists, Mikey and Margalo, described as shallow and self-centered, I was expecting the worst. One might guess from that description that the teenagers wear nothing but name brands, belong to the "A-List" clique and spend their time making less popular students miserable. But the opposite is true. As for them and their friends being "self-centered," or "petty," that's a normal developmental stage for adolescents and not necessarily a sign that they are irredeemable. What else are teens going to discuss about at school but their problems, teachers, extracurriculars, and other students? For that matter, what do adults talk about when they get together?

The plots center around the girls trying to stop the bullying of a classmate and friend (how many "shallow" teens do that?), standing up to a tennis coach who wants her team to cheat on line calls, and tracking down a thief who has stolen Margalo's money. While the girls' inner strength and immunity to peer pressure sometimes seemed too good to be true, it's nice to read about adolescents who don't want to be a princess or a prom queen. Not all teen girls are willing to sell their souls to be popular, but this often isn't the message many teen books send.

My one complaint was that the book went on far too long. Some of the minor characters' developed conflicts and then disappeared only to have them solved in an overly pat manner.