Jen Jones (1)

We all know them—the typical cliques: nerds, athletes, popular cheerleaders, band geeks and outcasts. Instead of denouncing cliques or throwing in the latest buzz word—bullying—this books challenges teens to determine which group they belong to. The author, Jen Jones, is attempting to take the stigma out of cliques. Jones aims to teach kids how to work out conflict with the friends in their cliques and how to be confident in who they are. But it seems as though the author is perpetuating stereotypes. Jen Jones is telling every teen that they fit into a box, no matter what box it is, and they should find out which one and aim to be accepted in that box. She even encourages holding on to those cliques into adulthood when she writes that “cliques don’t end after graduation. Growing up is a fact of life, and like it or not, so are cliques” (page 20). She gives advice on how to go from “geek to chic” (page 21) and it sends the message to kids that they have to accept cliques and try to “survive” them, as evidenced by the “what’s your clique survival style” quiz beginning on page 28.
I don’t believe Jen Jones wants to tell kids to change who they are to fit in but it doesn’t really tell them it’s OK to be outside of a clique. There’s one small blurb about it being OK to speak out or have individuality but still within your clique. It almost makes sense once you read the “about the author” section in the back of the book which explains that Jones was a cheerleader. Not to add fuel to the fire but cheerleaders, unfortunately, are widely known as the most popular girls who run the school, so he opinion may be a little biased.
She offers history about cliques, saying “the seeds for cliques were planted hundreds of years ago.” She writes about ancient Rome when people were divided into social groups based on their wealth, politics, and jobs.” She defines four types of cliques:: popular, wannabes, friendship circles built around common clubs, teams or interests, and loners. Though she attempts to make it OK, this type of book created for kids at an already trying time in their lives could be confusing and detrimental to their life experiences.
The cover shows a gossiping pair of white females, the most prominent image in the book. There are few minorities shown throughout which could make a minority reading the book feel even more disconnected. The colors are bright and happy, though a discussion about cliques seems a little more depressing. This lends to the author’s attempt to put a positive spin on a complex topic. There is a 7-word glossary of words such as exclude, stereotype and similar terms. There are further reading suggestions and a list of internet sites.… (plus d'informations)

This is an attractive book, full of photos, checklists, party themes, recipes, and craft ideas. However, it's not entirely realistic or practical. In a section on budgeting, the figure of $250 is used, which sounds pretty steep to me for just an everyday party. Girls are instructed to carry out lots of tasks that parents might like to handle themselves, or at least direct, such as deciding which food should be discarded from the fridge before stocking up on party supplies, shopping, cooking ahead, and cleaning. For teens who are old enough to handle these responsibilities, the party ideas are too childish. Some directions seem incomplete, such as for the pompoms made out of tissue paper. The finished project is shown, but there are no illustrations showing the steps. Finally, the moustache party theme strikes me as a bit strange to me, but I've been told that the moustache thing is all the rage right now.

I took a look at this to see whether it would be a good purchase at the library where I work. I've decided that with a limited library budget, in a town full of families on limited budgets, it just doesn't make sense for us. I discovered that we already own what looks like the best recent book about kids' parties, Soleil Moon Frye's "Let's Get This Party Started." It includes activities for both boys and girls, it keeps the parents in charge of the party planning, and the ideas seem to be more budget-friendly. As far as the needs of our library, all we need to do is make that book more findable in our catalog, and we're good to go.

I received a free electronic advanced reading copy of this book from Netgalley, but received no other compensation.… (plus d'informations)

This short how-to book teaches you how to create fourteen braided hairstyles that range from basic braids and French braids to ribbon-woven braids and French halo braids to cornrows and microbraids. Each hairstyle includes simple step-by-step instructions with photographs illustrating each step, though the steps tend to focus only on starting the braids then prompt braiders to repeat steps and the photographs do not always make it clear which strands of hair need to be moved, so readers who are not especially familiar with braiding techniques may have a hard time following along. For readers with an adequate understanding of braiding, however, this book offers plenty of attractive new hairstyles. Supplementary material offers braiders tips for keeping their hair healthy, fun facts about braids, a glossary of terms and suggestions for further readings. Recommended for readers age 8 and up.… (plus d'informations)