The Rivals [Hardcover]

Daisy Whitney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2012

When Alex Patrick was assaulted by another student last year, her elite boarding school wouldn't do anything about it. This year Alex is head of the Mockingbirds, a secret society of students who police and protect the student body. While she desperately wants to live up to the legacy that's been given to her, she's now dealing with a case unlike any the Mockingbirds have seen before.

It isn't rape. It isn't bullying. It isn't hate speech. A far-reaching prescription drug ring has sprung up, and students are using the drugs to cheat. But how do you try a case with no obvious victim? Especially when the facts don't add up, and each new clue drives a wedge between Alex and the people she loves most: her friends, her boyfriend, and her fellow Mockingbirds.

As Alex unravels the layers of deceit within the school, the administration, and even the student body the Mockingbirds protect, her struggle to navigate the murky waters of vigilante justice may reveal more about herself than she ever expected.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Rivals:

"Internal struggle and other students' hostility are portrayed with compassion and nuance. The story is ultimately driven by plot, and the author effectively shuttles readers through the twists, turns and double-crosses of the investigation as well as the ups and downs of a romance. "

(Kirkus Reviews )

Praise for The Mockingbirds:

"In The Mockingbirds, Daisy Whitney has written an unflinchingly honest story about the importance of taking a stand and speaking out. An emotionally powerful debut that will leave readers breathless." (Courtney Summers, author of Cracked Up to Be
)

"First-time author Whitney boldly addresses date rape, vigilantism, and academic politics in an intense and timely novel... Besides showing skill in executing suspense and drama, Whitney masterfully evokes the complexity of her protagonist's emotions, particularly her intense longing to feel 'normal' again." (Publishers Weekly (Starred review) )

"[Whitney] writes with smooth assurance and a propulsive rhythm as she follows Alex through the Mockingbird's trial process and its accompanying emotional storm of confusion, shame, fear, and finally, empowerment. Authentic and illuminating, this strong debut explores vital teen topics of sex and violence; crime and punishment; ineffectual authority; and the immeasurable, healing influence of friendship and love." (Booklist )

"Extraordinary...Shocking and eye-opening, this book is hard to put down."

(The Guardian )

About the Author

Daisy Whitney is a new-media producer, a reporter, and an internationally known web show creator, and The Mockingbirds was her debut novel. She graduated from Brown University and lives in San Francisco, California, with her fabulous husband, fantastic kids, and adorable dog.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316090573
• ISBN-13: 978-0316090575
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Daisy Whitney is the author of the award-winning novel THE MOCKINGBIRDS and its sequel THE RIVALS. When she's not inventing fictional worlds, she writes and reports on new media, TV and advertising for a range of publications and news outlets. She graduated from Brown University and lives in San Francisco, California, with her fabulous husband, fantastic kids, and adorable dogs. Her third novel, WHEN YOU WERE HERE, is a standalone YA and will release in Spring 2013, also to be published by Little, Brown. In addition, her young adult modern fantasy novel STARRY NIGHTS will release in Fall 2013 from Bloomsbury. You can follow her writing blog and media adventures at DaisyWhitney.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but not great, followup February 20, 2012

By J. Tsao

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

First I'd like to clarify that I'm very much a bell curve grader for books. For me 3 stars is an okay book that I enjoyed, but didn't really like or love. I rarely give a book 5 stars so a 3 star book is pretty good and not necessarily a critical review.

Having said that, I enjoyed The Rivals, but not nearly as much as I liked the first book in this series, The Mockingbirds.

Overall, however, I do enjoy Ms. Whitney's writing style and I think she creates very real, believable teenage characters, which is not common in much of today's YA literature. I will definitely continue to read whatever Ms. Whitney writes.

The Rivals picks up just after the Mockingbirds left off. It is a new school year, and after winning her Mockingbirds date rape trial against Carter, Alex is now the leader of the Mockingbirds and sits on the board, along with her new boyfriend, Martin.

The major case in this book is not a typical Mockingbirds type case as there is no clear victim. It is a ADHD drug cheating ring linked to the debate team. I actually like the ambiguity this case introduces and Alex's struggles between what is right and wrong when everything is a shade of grey, I just question the actual premise. Yes, using ADHD drugs can give oe more focused energy, but it isn't necessarily going to make someone win debates. They don't make people smarter, just more focused.

While I don't mind Alex's struggles, and I do appreciate that the book deals with challenges that I expect are very real for today's teens, I did feel that the book dragged a bit.

I had two major issues with the story. The first is the adult involvement. I appreciate that the story actually addresses that the faculty, specifically the headmistress, look a blind eye to what is going on and given that this is a boarding school, the lack of parental involvement makes sense. However, I do find it odd that none of these kids think to involve their parents. We do get some back story that some of the parents would not be good support systems, but surely among all of these kids, one of them has a decent parent who would get involved.

***Minor spoilers***

The second issue is the violent incident in the end. This is completely unbelievable to me that everyone would turn a blind eye to this. If I were Alex, you'd better believe I would be on the phone with my parents and lawyering up had someone done to me what was done to her. I find her complacent reaction pretty lame and the one thing in this story that was very unbelievable. I assume that Ms. Whitney was going for shock value, and she did achieve it, but I just did not like this turn of events.

As I said above, overall this was a good book, better than much of what I read, and if you like The Mockingbirds, you should definitely read it. If you haven't read The Mockingbirds, definitely do so and then pick The Rivals up. It is a good, but not great, second book in this story and I look forward to the third entry.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Middle of the pack boarding school investigation March 17, 2013

By M. Knapp

Format:Hardcover

Books set in boarding schools er..."academies" are everywhere these days, and the adventures at Themis Academy are interesting enough if you haven't tired of the setting. I read a lot of YA books, so I admit to being a bit burned out on the "adults are clueless or actively bad and teens have to totally solve their own problems" story line. At Themis, the adults are basically jerks, and the teens have formed The Mockingbirds, a "secret" but widely known-about board of students, who investigate accusations and try to administer justice. I didn't realize this was the second in the series. There are many flashbacks and references to what must have been covered in The Mockingbirds (book one)-- a date rape that was ignored by administration and investigated by the Mockingbirds. In The Rivals, a new nasty has reared its ugly head: pill-popping to gain an academic edge.

Alex (who was the date rape survivor) now heads The Mockingbirds, and with her two fellow leaders (one of whom is her decent and understanding boyfriend) must look into accusations of cheating-by-prescription drug. This book struck me as three stars (middle of the pack) all the way - pretty interesting characters, somewhat unexpected plot twists. Adults are unhelpful and fairly one-dimensional, the teens triumph. From reading other reviews, it sounds like The Mockingbirds might be a better book to recommend.

About me: I'm a middle school/high school librarian
How I got this book: borrowed from a friend

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A great companion novel to The Mockingbirds March 3, 2012

By Amanda Welling

Format:Hardcover

First Impressions: I picked up The Rivals right after finishing The Mockingbirds, which I absolutely adored. Daisy Whitney is becoming one of my favorite authors right now just for the sheer fact that she writes about hard topics other authors seem to shy away from, and she does it in a creative fashion as well by using the school group, The Mockingbirds, to gain some form of justice for the crimes committed. Needless to say, I was excited to see what Daisy had to say, her message to be given, in this new book.

Characters & Plot: In The Mockingbirds, Daisy tackled the topic of date rape and being able to speak up for yourself when it is extremely important to do so. I love her no-nonsense style of writing and how she just lays everything out on the table exactly how it should be. She can be pretty blunt and I admire her for that reason. Nothing is sugar coated in The Mockingbirds, and the same goes for The Rivals.

In The Rivals, we revisit the same school, Themis Academy, and the same set of students. Each character seems to have matured quite a bit since the last novel and they seem much older now. The general student body has made some very bad decisions and The Mockingbirds, the student group which Alex is now head of, has to decide the consequences for almost their entire group of peers. The crime? There is a group of students who are using prescription drugs in order for them to cheat. Alex and the other members of The Mockingbirds have to figure out exactly who is involved in the scandal and who their leader is, which proves to be a very difficult task to accomplish. Another group of students acting as vigilantes also comes into play as rivals to The Mockingbirds.

I don't think that this book packed as much punch as the first novel, but the message is important and it is very honest. Cheating using drugs of any kind DOES happen in schools all over the globe and it is something that isn't really addressed anywhere. In my own state (Pennsylvania), a similar incident occurred just a couple of years ago at a boarding school and it amazed me how little the press was reporting on the incident. This is why I really like this author, because of her no-nonsense approach to difficult or controversial issues.

Final Thoughts: I also really appreciated that the author chose to continue showing how Alex is recovering from being date raped. The author shows Alex as a strong survivor and has indeed moved on in her life, while showing every reader that you can indeed recover from something as terrible as rape. Altogether, this is a great follow-up novel to The Mockingbirds, one you aren't going to want to be missed.