Party Girl (Knopf Books) (Hardcover)

by Lynne Ewing (Author) "God is the dream maker, and I prayed to the Holy Mother of God to awaken me from this nightmare..." (more)
Key Phrases: gang sign, Monte Carlo, Life Savers, Outrageous Chaos (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
"We used to sit on the playground and plan our weddings, tracing long flowing white gowns in the sand with sticks. Then, in sixth grade--I can't remember the day it happened--a stone rolled in front of our futures. We dropped the sticks and our dreams and started planning our funerals instead." This sad, resigned voice, wise beyond her teen years, is that of Kata, a girl who has just lost her best friend, Ana, to gang violence. Ana and Kata, inseparable since fourth grade, are on their way home from winning another underground dance competition, when Ana reveals she is pregnant. Although Ana is worried about her mother's reaction, both girls know this is good news--now she can finally "face out" and escape the gang life in which the two have become hopelessly entangled. Moments later, Ana is killed in a drive-by shooting, and Kata must cope with the loss of her other half ("it took two of us to make one person"), as well as her helpless, alcoholic mother, her murderous hunger for revenge against Ana's killers, and her desire to leave gang life forever.

Lynne Ewing, author of Drive-By, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, spins a harrowing, captivating tale with Party Girl, which paints a clear picture of gang life with lovely, mesmerizing prose. Ewing's sense of drama is exquisite, and the realism is enhanced by her incorporation of Spanish, Quechua, and gang lingo into the dialogue. As readers live through Ana's struggles, they may be inspired to think more deeply about what lies beneath the tough exteriors of hardened gang members. For example, consider Ana's haunting recollection: "Sometimes when I was a little girl, I would play with my mother's hand, pretending her hand was a doll. She'd let me hold the hand, kiss the fingers, cuddle the arm while she drank her beers and smoked with her free hand and talked to dark men." While the ending may feel a bit too tidy for cynics, the final message of hope is a welcome relief after this grim, eye-opening walk on the wild side. (Ages 12-16) --Brangien Davis

From Publishers Weekly
What begins as a fascinating first-person account of life through the eyes of a female L.A. gang member rapidly unravels due to undeveloped characters and a dangling story line. Kata and Ana have been inseparable since fourth grade. Now 14, the two routinely escape from their homes at night to enter a world of sensual dance contests in abandoned warehouses as a team called "Outrageous Chaos." One night, after taking the top prize, the pair sneak across turf lines and Ana is killed by a rival gang. Now the gang is after Kata. While Ewing (Drive-By) effectively draws readers into the teenagers' world, she often breaks with Kata's narrative to fill in the facts ("Some [girls] even tried to get pregnant... so they could face out, quit the gang life and collect their welfare"). Kata's relationships with other characters go unexplored (e.g., an explanation for Kata's strange tie to Pocho, Ana's boyfriend, at the end of the book seems tacked on; Kata's alliance with her gang is never developed). And the visions that earn her the name "Dreamer" are poorly integrated into the novel. But perhaps of most concern is Kata's pronouncement, "I quit the life," with no explanation of how she will dodge Ana's killers, who are still in pursuit of her. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (August 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679892850
• ISBN-13: 978-0679892854
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,870,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 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

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.