Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Happy Book Birthday, Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell, and Fiona Wood

Today's book is girl power pure. Written by three amazing authors, this one was sure to be a treat. I do like the cover...isn't it all over the place? And with three different main characters (by the three authors), it's one of those reads which seemed impossible to pass up on. 
 


TAKE THREE GIRLS
by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell, and Fiona Wood
Sterling Kids
YA Contemporary
432 pages










Three authors. Three appealing and relatable characters. One smart YA novel about a trio of unlikely friends who team up to take down the school cyberbully. 
 
“Mean stuff spreads so fast. One click. Post. Send. Share. Online bullying = sometimes suicides, so all the private schools have strategies for dealing with it. At St Hilda’s, it’s Wellness classes. We greeted the idea with genuine enthusiasm. Why not? Everyone loves the chance to slack off.”
 
Popular Ady seems cool and confident at school, but at home her family is falling apart. Brainiac Kate wants to pursue her dreams of playing music, even if it jeopardizes her academic scholarship. And swim champ Clem finds herself disenchanted with the sport . . . and falling for a very wrong boy. When these three very different girls are forced to team up in a wellness class, they’re not too pleased. But over time, they bond—and when they’re all targeted by PSST, a website that dishes out malicious gossip and lies, they decide to take a stand, uncover the culprits, and fight back. But can they really fix a broken system? With each girl’s story told by a different author, as well as intriguing questionnaires from the wellness class included throughout, this empowering novel explores today’s most relevant topics— from cyberbullying and fat shaming to drug abuse and financial stress.   


Take Three Girls is the winner of Australia's 2018 Children's Book Council YA Book of the YearKirkus calls it “Compelling and relevant” and School Library Journal says “readers who are experiencing tough times will connect with the characters, who are strong and resilient. Each girl’s character growth, interests, and how she overcomes challenges is relatable.”


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BOOK BLINK

                                  * written by three very powerful authors
                                  * three main characters, each with a distinct personality and voice
                                  * touches upon issues age group and relate to
                                  * entertaining, grabbing and emotional
                                  

MY TIDBITS

Tons of heart, emotion and honesty marks the tale of three very different girls, who although coming from very differing paths, manage to find strength through each other.

This one is written from three different perspectives, each character as different as different can be. One is popular, one is smart and the other is athletic. Each one has a distinct voice, dreams, hopes and personality, problems, and none of their lives cross. Until they do. 

Right away, the voices of the characters demand attention. They are written in a true to life manner, allowing the reader to immediately feel as if they are getting to know each girl personally. While there are raw thoughts, emotions and character depth, all of these things flow along in a nicely paced tale. There's always something going on, and the moments are touching, disheartening, tense or even slightly humorous. But every single one comes across with a naturalness, which makes it easy to sink into each of the girls' stories.

It was very easy to keep track of the character switches and hard not to get lost in each one. The authors start each chapter with a 'worksheet', including an inspirational quote, discussion thoughts, and a task, which hits a certain wellness topic. Then, the characters come in. Some are written like journal entries, other pages hold social media posts. This not only allows the girls' situation and lives to come across in an intriguing way, but also gives the reader reason to dive into the topics themselves. 

The characters are interesting, but it's their problems which give this whole thing depth. Tough issues such as family, romance, finding oneself, weight, and cyberbullying hit hard and make an impact, especially on readers who might experience similar issues themselves. And yet, there's tons of heart as the three learn to bond in an odd but wonderful friendship. It's an inspiring read which packs a punch and shows how powerful friendship, hope, and determination can be.


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