Anatomy of a Girl Gang

Gr 10 Up—After being forced to prostitute themselves for the benefit of their gang, Mercy and Mac free themselves to create The Black Roses, the most terrifying all-female gang Vancouver has ever seen. Told in the alternating perspectives of the five members, each teen describes the horrors in her life and explains her willingness to embrace this type of life. The characters unabashedly share their stories. When Mercy accidentally runs over a homeless man, her remorse for having killed him is overshadowed by the need to fence the stolen car and erase any evidence of her involvement. Yet within the crew, each girl experiences friendship, support, and even love—they are a family. When Sly Girl is beaten and raped during a crack deal, the gang closes ranks to protect her and exacts brutal revenge on the perpetrators. The novel ends, as many gang members do, in preventable pointless violence. The protagonists are authentically portrayed and the author uses gritty prose to depict their bleak and painful existence. The brutality is unsettling and realistic, and more suitable for mature teens. Overall the book is a compelling, seemingly accurate, and somewhat disturbing read.—Patricia Feriano, Our Lady of Mercy School, Potomac, MD