The List by Siobhan Vivian

Premise: Each year, a few weeks into the school year, a list is posted all over a high school naming the four prettiest and the four ugliest girls, one for each grade. Who are the 8 girls, how did the end up on the list, and how do they react to getting on the list? Is being named "prettiest" a good thing? What is life like for the "ugliest" girls? And who makes this list each year anyway? If you want to know the answers to these questions, read on.

What I liked: There were 8 leading characters whose stories sometimes only slightly overlapped with each other, they were distinct enough that I was able to keep them straight. When I was first reading it, I often referred to a copy of The List at the beginning of the book. The topic of how people's perception of one's physical appearance affects girls (distinct from their actual appearance, by the way) is ripe for exploration. Because there are so many characters in different situations, it gives the author many facets to explore. None are in-depth, but it could be a great launch pad for discussions. The writing is breezy and entertaining, and each girl has a distinct voice. The author's experience as a TV writer and editor for Alloy Entertainment (Pretty Little Liars, etc.) probably helps give her an ear for dialogue. It's certainly not great literature, but it's not chit lit trash either, and could draw in a pretty wide range of (girl) readers, both reluctant and voracious.

What wasn't great: Well, it is still 8 characters to track. One blog, The Fake Steph Dot Com, pointed out that it made the opening of the story a bit repetitive, since we had to live through eight girls discovering they were on The List and what their reactions were. The ending was a bit rushed and pat. There are a lot of threads to pull together, and some of them were taken care of more skillfully than others.