Ruling Class [Paperback]

Francine Pascal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2005

Myrna Fry's only aim in life is to be part of the Ruling Class, an elite clique of spectacularly cruel girls, where the beautiful and perfect Jeanette Sue is queen. Highland Park High School is a nightmare filled with terror as Jeanette Sue and her entourage rule - brutally. And no one ever questions them, certainly not little suck-up Myrna. Then the arrival of the totally undesirable, absolutely unfashionable, and - worse still - poor Twyla Gay Stark, changes everything. And slowly the rules begin to change...

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–In a wealthy suburb of Dallas, the top clique in the school rules with snobbery, money, and style. When Twyla Gay arrives, she doesn't fit in at all because of her clothes and her name. But she mostly sticks out because she is poor. When the Ruling Class begins to target her, Twyla Gay fights back with her only friend, Deena, deemed the school slut by the vicious RC. The story alternates between Twyla Gay, who is determined to get revenge rather than drop out of school like her mother did, and Myrna Fry, desperate to belong to the RC and whose ignorance, racism, and pure idiocy can be hard to read. Pascal has created a frothy book filled with the names of hot designers and musicians. The topic of bullying among girls is timely but rendered with a simplicity that doesn't do the issue justice. Additionally, the only fully rendered characters are Twyla Gay and Deena. The others are one-dimensional cutouts who seem to exist only to make a point. Despite its problems, this book will be read with glee by any teenage girl who is on the outside of a clique.–Tasha Saecker, Caestecker Public Library, Green Lake, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. When she moves to an upscale Dallas neighborhood, 16-year-old Twyla Gay becomes the target of bullying so ferocious that she considers dropping out of school: "If this kind of pain were physical, I'd be bleeding to death." Instead, she takes on her tormentors--members of an elite clique of girls, the Ruling Class, led by wealthy, gorgeous, and zit-free Jeanette Sue. Pascal's latest novel, narrated in multiple teens' voices, joins the many recent titles that unerringly probe the "mean girl" phenomenon. A few characters read as caricatures, particularly ruthless, superficial Jeanette Sue and bigoted, painfully naive Myrna, who aspires to join the clique. But many teens will recognize the spot-on brutality and subtleties of female bullying: the victims' denial and rage, the tormentors' fragile balance of power, the hysteria of rumors fueled by homophobia and prejudice. The designer labels and music references will date quickly, but readers will want to talk about the questions, especially how to overcome a bully. Must you become one yourself? Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Childrens Books (April 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416901264
• ISBN-13: 978-1416901266
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,912,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francine Pascal is the creator of the Sweet Valley High series and one of the world's most popular fiction writers for teenagers and the author of several bestselling novels, My Mother Was Never A Kid (Hanging out with Cici), My First Love and Other Disasters, as well as the series Fearless. Her adult novels include, Save Johanna! and If Wishes Were Horses (La Villa) and the non-fiction, The Strange Case of Patty Hearst. Pascal is on the Advisory Board of The American Theatre Wing. Her favorite sport is a monthly poker game. She lives in New York City and France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Written., May 14, 2006

By 

Lauren Gray "Lauren" (Gainesville, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ruling Class (Paperback)

The Ruling CLass by Francine Pascal appears to be poorly written and poorly thought out. I read this book in a few hours, and was disappointed in it overall.

Working backwards, the ending is a letdown. Being the climax of the book, it is not led up to very well, and is very short. There does not seem to be much of a conclusion on the new status of all the students, and it seems as if Francine was in a rush to finish the book.

As for the characters, they are all a little odd. For one, it is increasingly annoying to read 'like', used by all the characters. It is one thing to be a teen and say it in speech, and a complete other thing to write it in literature. Even when pertraying a teen. The book is written in the perspective to two major characters, Myrna Fry and Twyyla Gay, both of whom are unrealistic.

This book seems to be a bad Harry Potter jock. In the sense that there are a lot of background questions that are not answered. Yet, unlike Harry Potter, there are not 6 more books coming out, and they will not be answered. Why is J.S. so mean? How are the R.C.s choosen? Does the school learn anything? Is there a reason Ryder and J.S. are still messing around with each other yet Ryder is asking Twyla out? Also, I'd like to know what went on with the people chasing Twyla after the mall incident. Sure, it made the night awful.. but were they really nessicary in the book? Especially since nothing else happens with them?

Lastly, I think the book is aimed for an older reading crowd, yet it seems like a book for the younder crowd.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read on a weekend afternoon, but not looking for anything too indepth thinking-wise.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtless, March 4, 2006

By 

Nona U. Business (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ruling Class (Hardcover)

I'm from the East Coast, and know nothing about life in Highland Park, Texas. But after reading the first few pages of this book, I thought, "This is an avalanche of stereotypes. This is obviously an East or West Coast person's idea of what 'those backward Texans' are like." I checked the book jacket, and sure enough the author was from the East Coast. I was not at all surprised to find user reviews from real Texans who objected to the book. The character of Myrna is so stupid that she is totally unbelievable. We are supposed to be reading Myrna's inner thoughts, but what we get is actually the excuses that she might tell someone else to explain her behavior. It doesn't really get to the heart of what a "follower" type feels on the inside.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yeah...., January 6, 2007

By 

Laura (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ruling Class (Hardcover)

I found the plot laughable. The characters over the top and over-exaggerated. I know, I know I may be bias being from Dallas and HP, but I truly went into to this book trying to keep an open-mind. It was a waste of my time to read it and to me it seemed that the author was trying a little too hard to make this a novelization of Mean Girls. Anyway this book was quite disappointing and very offensive. These girls act more like junior high students then high school students. Yes HP has a valid reputation of being racist and wealthy. But this book took it to another level and completely over the top.

Poorly done Ms. Pascal.