Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Queen Bee


Queen Bee by Chynna Clugston. Graphix, Imprint of Scholastic. Library copy. Graphic Novel.

The Plot: Haley is the new girl in 7th grade. She's glad she's in a new school; it's a chance to start over and be popular! The only problem . . . she's got this little thing called psychokinesis. Which can cause a wee bit of trouble.

The Good: It's classic middle school story line. Girl wants to be popular so doesn't hang out with the friendly girl. Popular group has a Queen Bee. There's a nice shy boy; but he's not cool enough.

The new twists: it's in graphic novel format. Haley manages to rise to the top of the social structure... but it's tricky staying on top. When new girl Alexa shows up, she not only becomes the new Queen Bee; Haley finds herself struggling to keep any of her popularity. It's not easy, because Alexa doesn't fight fair. Middle School politics are front and center, with a healthy dose of manipulation. All assisted by psychokinesis. Haley can move things with her mind! (But she has some control issues.)

The wrap up is interesting: a little American Idol, a little High School Musical, as the school's drama show determines who will be the Queen Bee. For this volume, at least.

Links:
Author's LiveJournal.
Review by TangognaT at Chicken Spaghetti.
The Goddess of YA Literature - GNs for gurlz

1 comment:

Little Willow said...

I love her artwork in this and previous GNs.
I must add her LJ right now.
I liked QB all right, but I saw the twist coming from far away, and that made it anti-climatic for me. Has a second in the line come out yet? Scholastic's Graphix site has not been updated in forever.