Pretty Amy

Gr 9 Up—Lacking self-confidence, Amy Fleishman feels like a misfit at her high school-until she meets beautiful Lila and badass Cassie. Amy is happy to become the openly admitted third wheel and to go along with whatever trouble they brew up. Then on prom night, the dates that Lila arranges for them stand the girls up, and Lila breaks into her date's house. She finds and takes a large bag of marijuana, and the girls are caught with it by police. When Amy is presented with an opportunity to testify against Lila and Cassie to avoid jail time, her reluctance to save herself forces her to evaluate the path that her life has taken. The rawness of the situation is realized as she finally admits that she is "more scared to be friendless than to be locked away." This candid story serves as a cautionary reminder against the power of peer pressure and the need to consider the potential consequences of one's actions without reading like an "I told you so" lecture from an adult. Teens will be drawn in and relate to Amy's innermost thoughts-particularly the feeling of not having control over her own life. At one point, she says, "the world would still be making plans for me, whether I was present or not." Burstein carries this theme of freedom throughout the novel through AJ, Amy's beloved pet bird. Though in different ways, both Amy and AJ gain freedom in the end, making this a satisfying read.Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT