Snob Squad: The First

The Clique

Written by: Lisi Harrison

Released: May 5, 2004 by Little, Brown and Company


Summary: The social minefields most privileged middle-school girls drive the over-the-top drama in this addictive new book, set in suburban New York City’s Westchester County.
Massie Block: With her glossy brunette bob and Whitestrip smile, Massie is the uncontested ruler of The Clique and the rest of the social scene at Octavian Country Day, an exclusive private school in Westchester, New York.
Dylan Marvil: Massie’s second in command who divides her time between sucking up to Massie and sucking down Atkins shakes to try to get rid of the extra fifteen pounds that won’t seem to leave her hips alone.
Alicia Rivera: As sneaky as she is beautiful, Alicia floats easily under adult radar because she seems so “sweet”. Would love to take Massie's throne one day. Just might do it.
Kristen Gregory: She’s been dying to fit in ever since her parents went broke. She’s smart, hardworking and will insult you to tears faster than you can say “scholarship kid”.
And then there’s Claire Lyons, the new girl in two-year old GAP overalls from Florida, who is clearly not Clique material. The only problem is that Claire’s family is staying in the guest house on the Blocks'' massive estate while they look for a new home! Claire’s future looks worse than a bad Prada knockoff. But with a little luck and a lot of scheming, Claire might just come up smelling like Chanel Mademoiselle....






I read this book in one sitting, which wasn’t hard since it’s rather short and entertaining. I admit that I had seen the movie a while ago when I stumbled across it online, and the fact that I enjoyed the movie (as silly as it was), prompted me to pick this book up at the library today. I liked how it was an easy, simple, no-brain read, that kept me reading it right up until the end.

Character-wise, I have to say that I only really enjoyed Massie, Claire and Kristen, though I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe I just related more to them than the others. Whatever the reason, I thought that the characters were all well-thought and well written though completely snarky and mean at times. I guess I just didn’t have to deal with cliques to that degree while in grade school.

The plot was simple and it sets up the characters well for the rest of the series – at least I can only assume that the series get better thanks to this book. This definitely wasn’t a book where a lot happened, but I can see where more is able to happen now in the 12 (13 next year) + books that follow it.

All together, I think that this is a solid 5.5/10 with room for improvement as the books develop. I enjoyed reading it and I kind of can’t wait to see what else unfolds with the rest.