Such a Good Girl

Gr 9 Up—Riley Stone is such a good girl. She's beautiful and smart, and she never does anything to derail her perfect life plan. Her friend Kolbie is "almost" a supermodel, her friend Neta is described as a young Sofia Vergara, and Riley was voted homecoming queen—her freshman year. Her life is idyllic until she falls for her French teacher, Alex Belrose. A game involving life and death consequences ensues, but Riley has a plan and she always wins. Riley's picturesque life might initially push readers away, but those who continue to the end won't regret it. The story takes some unexpected and thrilling turns. Students who have ever had a crush on a teacher or tried to maintain a flawless persona will see themselves in Riley as she tests the boundaries of her perfectionism. "We're like these plastic people and we look so perfect as long as you don't see where we've been molded together so carefully." The other characters in the novel are developed only when it is pertinent to the plot and are thus sometimes hard to tell apart. The author gives us insight into Riley's nature in other ways, primarily by providing a "Things To Know About Riley Stone" segment every two or three chapters. These lists become delightfully disturbing as the tension progresses.