Party Girl [Turtleback]

Lynne Ewing (Author)

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606173730
• ISBN-13: 978-0606173735
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gangs and violence, April 18, 2002

By 

Leyla mumin (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Party Girl (Knopf Books) (Mass Market Paperback)

Party Girl
By:Lynne Ewing
Have you ever been involved in gangs? If you had or you want to know how it is like, you will get into this book as I did. In this novel you will learn how being in a gang it's not only about having friends and parties. It has more involve in it.
Kata is a teenage girl who loves to dance with her best friend Ana. Kata is involve in gangs and violence in the streets. When she looses her friend Ana in a drive by, she gets in to a dilemma, either to go and look for revenge or look out for a better future. Dealing with these problems in the streets and an alcoholic mother at home makes everything harder for Kata to make a decision.
In this novel the author did a really good job at getting you to not stop reading. Reading this story will really make you think of what you would do in a similar situation Kata is going through. Also it will make you put yourself in Kata's shoes, and make you think how hard it is to make the right decision when you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders. For example when Ana's boyfriend was pushing Kata to go for revenge, Kata didn't know if she should take revenge or quit the gang because all the pressure that was on her shoulders.
The author wrote so realistically that you feel how difficult it is to be in a gang. It showed you that being in a gang it's not only having friends, have fun and go to parties. When you read this book you realize that when you are in a gang you put at risk a lot of things that that you don't realize how important they are to you until they are gone.
When you are finished reading this book it will leave you a lasting impression. Even if you don't believe it at first; deep inside your head you'll think twice before getting in a gang. One way or another we are all involved in gangs and violence in the streets. Read Party Girl and you'll find out why.

Review by: Yitzy Trejo

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ewing's Party Girl, August 22, 2000

By 

CPlante (El Cajon,CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Party Girl (Knopf Books) (Mass Market Paperback)

Kata and Ana became best friends in the fourth grade---"That was the year it took two of us to make one person." Ewing writes a compelling story of a young girl coming to terms with the death of her best friend from a drive by shooting after winning a dance contest. Telling Kata she's pregnant, Ana confesses she wants out of the gang life and is scared. Kata tries to reassure her, "Don't think about the future, I said,"We're party girls, esa." "Yea, don't think about the future, because we don't have one," she said. Moments later Ana is shot down by an enemy gang. Written in a vivid but simple way, the story draws the reader into Ana's and Kata's lives. Ewing creates a small window looking into a world of macho posturing, drinking and violence. Kata struggles to survive without Ana but life is too difficult. Bent on seeking revenge for Ana's death, she finds the alleged killer and discovers she cannot kill him. Growing weary of gang life, Kata must decide if she will "face out." Kata sees her friend, Ana, and an old "party girl" in visions of what the future may hold. A decision is made. Ewings's usage of gang language, Spanish, Quechua and the background of a Los Angeles neighborhood gives this grim book an edgy feel and the reader a glimpse of a violent world and the possibility of hope.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!, June 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Party Girl (Knopf Books) (Hardcover)

Kata must face life without her friend Ana when Ana loses her life in a drive-by. Now she must choose--revenge Ana's death and remain part of the gang or face any equally uncertain future once she quits "the life". Choosing is not as obvious as you think. Lynn Ewing gives a voice to any teen struggling to come to grips with a life-changing decision. The characters are memorable, the portrayals of street life realistic and the story thought-provoking.