A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

( 51 )

Overview

Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva all get mixed up with a senior boy–a cool, slick, sexy boy who can talk them into doing almost anything he wants. In a blur of high school hormones and personal doubt, each girl struggles with how much to give up and what ultimately to keep for herself. How do girls handle themselves? How much can a boy get away with? And in the end, who comes out on top? A bad boy may always be a bad boy. But this bad boy is about ...
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Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl

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More About This Book

Overview

Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva all get mixed up with a senior boy–a cool, slick, sexy boy who can talk them into doing almost anything he wants. In a blur of high school hormones and personal doubt, each girl struggles with how much to give up and what ultimately to keep for herself. How do girls handle themselves? How much can a boy get away with? And in the end, who comes out on top? A bad boy may always be a bad boy. But this bad boy is about to meet three girls who won’t back down.

From the Hardcover edition.

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Editorial Reviews

KLIATT
This amazing first novel is one of the most honest treatments of teenage sexuality to be found in YA fiction--it will definitely be provocative. Stone tells the story in poetry, and the terseness makes the feelings that much more vivid. The format is inventive: there are three girls telling the story of their seduction by the same bad boy, each in turn. Josie begins, with a series of poems about her freshman year in high school. She has confidence in herself, but finds her critical thinking skills not much help when an attractive senior boy seduces her. She is vulnerable to his attention even when she suspects he isn't always sincere, and he knows how to make her body respond to his touches and kisses. She manages to resist him sexually, and when he ditches her, she goes to the library and writes in the back of the book Forever, by Judy Blume, the details of what a jerk he is. Next to experience the "bad boy" is Nicolette, completely different from Josie. Nicolette has had sex before and prides herself on being in control of relationships. She loses control in this relationship because the sex is so exciting she believes she is in love. In actuality, he is treating her like a whore, which finally she has to face--she finds comfort in reading about Josie's experience when she is told to check in the back of Forever. The third girl, Aviva, has a different story to tell, but she too is betrayed and finds solace in the sisterhood who share their experiences. Each girl makes different choices when confronted with the attentions of an irresistible older guy who behaves shamefully. Each wants to believe she is special, the exception, the girl he really loves. Aviva, though hurt,manages to puncture his defenses. We are accustomed to stories of how much girls want to be loved, and this one doesn't contradict that truth, but adds to it the power of sexual desire. An adolescent boy's strong sex drive is a given, but here is the poetry of a girl's body responding to seduction. This will be much talked about, and every reader who has been swept away in a love affair will recognize its truth. KLIATT Codes: S*--Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students. 2006, Random House, Wendy Lamb, 223p., Ages 15 to 18.
—Claire Rosser
VOYA
Some girls are just plain attracted to bad boys, and Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva are definitely those girls. All very different, each falls for the same senior boy who has mostly one thing on his mind. Josie is the confident freshman who falls for the senior's flattery and almost goes too far before she realizes she was just going to be another notch on his belt. Nicolette is the junior who has been around the block quite a few times and sees this bad boy as another challenge to conquer, realizing too late that the tables have been turned and that she has been used for sex. Aviva is a well-rounded and intelligent outsider in the social scene, but she allows herself to be sucked in to the mainstream by this bad boy's sweet words that warp her judgment and change her life. Written in three distinct voices of poetry prose, Stone's intimate and honest work accurately depicts both the agony and ecstasy of teenage relationships from the inside out. The three plots are cleverly joined through a school library copy of Judy Blume's Forever (Bradbury, 1975), the first young adult novel to deal frankly with teenage sex, where the girls share their stories and post a warning for every other girl who follows. Each learns difficult lessons from their bad-boy experience and come out stronger, proving that a bad boy, in some cases, can be good for a girl. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, 240p., and PLB Ages 12 to 18.
—Michele Winship
Children's Literature - Elizabeth Young
Wow! An eye-opening WOW. Is high school just a hunting ground for testosterone-infested young men? Apparently Stone presents that stigma through the eyes of three naive high school girls who learn the hard way that not everyone has their best interest at heart. This title is presented in verse form, so it is a quick read, but that sometimes obscures the characters and dialog. At times it feels as if we need a scorecard to know who is speaking. Follow the adventures and misadventures of Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva and their ‘relationship' with the same boy, and decide which one made the wisest choice—or the choice most similar to yours. One boy, known only as T.L., seems to be interested in only one thing and spares no broken hearts to get it. Parents may shudder at the scenarios that are disclosed, but high school girls will identify with most, if not all, of the heightened emotions and drama. An excellent choice for a girls reading club, but certainly not a wise choice for ‘promiscuous' girls.
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Three girls succumb to the charms of one sexy high school senior and emerge wiser for the experience in this energetic novel in verse. Josie is a self-assured freshman who values her girlfriends over boys until a hot jock focuses his attention on her and her simmering hormones break into a full boil. Confused by her behavior, yet unable to control her desire, she acts out every romantic clich she has ever disdained, until the boy drops her and she experiences the chill of rejection. It is Judy Blume's Forever that sparks Josie's fire again, and finding a few blank pages at the back of the library's copy, she sends a warning to the girls of her school. Next readers meet Nicolette, a junior who sees her sexuality as power. A loner, she's caught by surprise at her own reaction when this popular boy takes notice of her. Suddenly she thinks she sees the difference between sex and love, and then, just as suddenly, he's gone. Finally, Aviva, a pretty, smart, artsy, and funny senior, is stunned when the jock seems to want her. She gives up her virginity, only to be disappointed in both the sex and the boy. Furious, Aviva heads to the library to check out Forever, now crammed with the words of girls who suffered the same fate at the hands of the same boy. The free verse gives the stories a breathless, natural flow and changes tone with each narrator. The language is realistic and frank, and, while not graphic, it is filled with descriptions of the teens and their sexuality. This is not a book that will sit quietly on any shelf; it will be passed from girl to girl to girl.-Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Three high-school girls take turns relating their separate experiences with the same bad boy, a senior jock who seems only interested in one thing: "nailing" them. There's enough in this verse novel to make a grown woman cringe-remembering what it was like back then and that the more things change they stay the same. These narrators, despite their varied backgrounds and ambitions, are interested in, well, the physical realm of boy/girl relations and are willing to kiss and tell: They speak poetry of pedestrian language, which, at its most varied, describes erotic outings and, in one instance, oral sex. High school girls with uncomplicated reading agendas might find this brain candy gratifying. But those with SATs on their minds will find this shallow, repetitive and empty. (Fiction. YA)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780553495096
  • Publisher: Random House Children's Books
  • Publication date: 6/12/2007
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 240
  • Sales rank: 191,225
  • Age range: 12 - 16 Years
  • Product dimensions: 5.34 (w) x 7.99 (h) x 0.67 (d)

Read an Excerpt

Josie

For the Record

I'm not stuck up.
I'm confident.
There's a big difference.
If I was stuck up I'd be one of those
"Oh look at me, I'm so pretty"
girls instead of just appreciating the fact that my cinnamon skin looks good year-round and I can hop in the shower after soccer or lacrosse,
throw on a clean sweatshirt,
sweep on some mascara,
let my hair loose from its pony,
and give any girl a serious run for her money.
And while I totally deserve my spot in Honors English I'm happy to take my proper place in Algebra I, suffering alongside the rest of the mediocre math heads.
So,
as far as high school boys go,
I'm not so floundering in self-esteem issues that I need someone's arm to hang on or someone's jersey number to cheer for to be a legitimate person,
like some people I know.
Man, to listen to Kim and Caroline chatter away all summer you'd think we've been waiting our whole pathetic lives just to graduate middle school and get to Point Beach High so we could date high school boys.
As if high school boys hold some kind of magical key to who we all really are.


The Whole Truth

All that stuff I just said is absolutely swear-to-God true,
but the rest of the truth the whole truth is lately I don't have as tight a grip on my confidence as usual.
I mean, this is high school.
Sure, I was pretty popular in middle school,
but you never know how these things are going to turn out.
What if what Kim and Caroline call my natural look is considered totally lame in high school?
What if wanting to read during lunch makes me a total geek?
What if I don't fit in at all?

Jigsaw

It's funny how one night can change the way you look at certain things.
I mean, I believe 100 percent that high school boys don't hold any magical key or anything but that's not the same as saying they're all bad.
Some of them aren't so bad.
Like, maybe,
this one.
I saw him across the gym before he saw me.
He was scoping things out at the Fall Fling,
looking for that one lucky freshman to win the prize of dancing with the studly senior.
I think he picked me because I looked right at him as if I couldn't care less.
I couldn't care more.
My heart was pounding,
palms sweaty.
Hit me like a surprise party you cross-your-heart had no idea anyone was throwing you.
Now, I have never understood all that he's-my-other-half soul mate stuff or when people sometimes talk about having an empty space inside or that they're missing pieces or something.
But then he walked over and fit himself right into my puzzle.

First (Real) Date: Part One

I think Mom is a little bit worried the first guy I'm dating is a senior.
She should know me better than that.
I never do anything I don't want to do.
That's not going to change.
I mean, when everyone thought it was so cool to sit on the seawall and puff through a pack of Marlboro Lights,
I had a blast sitting there laughing,
telling them how truly stupid and uncool they really were, actually,
coughing and sputtering and wanting to puke,
yeah, real sexy,
dopes.
Give me some credit.
I never do anything I don't want to do.
Period.
He picks me up in his brand-new Mazda Miata.
I hate to admit it,
but he kind of cracked my cool-as-a-cucumber exterior I tried to pull off at the dance
(even though I'm hoping he didn't notice I talked way too fast)
but now all he's talking about is how many horsepowers his stupid car has and the torque and how he almost picked cherry red but he's so stoked that they had this sweet ocean color come in at the last minute and I'm starting to think maybe I made a
big mistake,
but I just smile and nod,
like the idiotic bobblehead planted in the middle of his dashboard,
pretending this is the most interesting conversation ever.
Man, I hope he doesn't keep this up too long.
We pull in to Smiles.
The parking lot is alive,
too many radio stations blaring kids making out in cars sitting on hoods eating hot dogs high-fiving smoking various things drinking various things talking too loud about nothing.
Real fun.
Inside the scene isn't all that different,
except it's another kind of dark punctuated by the bright lights of too many pulsing video games jammed up against each other.
We walk over to a big bunch of seniors by the batting cages he drapes his arm around me real possessive,
which should have immediately brought out my I-can-take-care-of-myself attitude,
but instead stirs this way-foreign tingly
"Oh my God, he really likes me" rush.
(Lame! Did I just actually think that?)
"Dude!"
"Who's the babe? Freshmeat?" one of the jocks says,
right in front of my face.
"Get it? Freshmen, freshmeat?"
He's laughing hysterically,
like this is the most hilarious thing anyone has ever heard.
"Yeah, got it.
Guys, this is Josie."
A round of Hi's, How's It Goin's, and What's Up's are tossed in my general direction.
"Hi."
I never thought this scene would interest me but actually,
I feel really,
I don't know,
included, I guess,
with his arm wrapped around me pulling me into a group--
and not just any group:
the coolest, most popular group of seniors,
even though the guys are fairly juvenile.
"Hey, we're all heading over to Lindsey's in a while,"
one of the boys says.
"Time to party!"
"Okay. We'll hit that, too. All right, Jos?"
"Okay. Sure."
Although I'm not at all sure because my Mom would freak if she knew I was going to a senior party.

First (Real) Date: Part Two

We hang out at Smiles for a while,
eat some truly nasty pizza,
then head over to Lindsey's.
On the drive over he rests his hand on my thigh,
"Are you having a good time?"
"Yes."
"Good, I'm glad. I want you to have fun."
His hand is still on my thigh.
He's going on and on about something,
his car again, I think,
but I can't concentrate with his fingers moving back and forth like that and even though he's acting real innocent,
like he's got no goal or anything,
the heat from his fingers is searing through to my skin like one of those iron-on transfers.
I could almost bet when I look later his handprint will have been permanently imprinted on my leg.
Then he raises the stakes.
He moves his hand onto mine picks it up and puts it on his thigh.
He takes his eyes off the road for a second looks at me and smiles.
Like the big bad wolf.
If I was in a comic strip,
there'd be a bubble coming out of my head with the word "Gulp" in it.

From the Hardcover edition.

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Reading Group Guide

1. Discuss the title of the novel. Do you agree with it? Why or why not? How did the bad boy in this novel end up being “good” for each girl?

2. Josie admits that “lately/I don’t have as tight a grip/on my confidence” (page 3). Do you think her insecurity affects her actions? If so, how? How can a girl maintain her confidence in unsettling situations?

3. Josie says, “It’s pretty amazing/to find out new things about yourself/when you think you already know every inch/of your own personal landscape” (page 78). What does she learn from her relationship with a bad boy? What can you learn from her?

4. Nicolette believes that sex is power. Do you agree? If so, who wields that power? How do you think attitudes about sex have changed over time? Is Nicolette’s belief a modern notion? Would your mother agree with Nicolette’s opinions? Your grandmother?

5. Both Aviva and Josie end up ditching their girlfriends for a guy. What do you think of their actions? How can you keep your friends and have a boyfriend?

6. Nicolette and Aviva believe that what they are feeling is love. But as Kristen tells Aviva, “. . . we call it making love, they don’t” (page 205). What do you think she is implying? Do you agree with her?

7. Compare the actions of the three girls. What can you learn from each of them? Whom do you feel most sorry for? Why? Whom do you relate to the most?

8. Each of the girls begins to lose her identity as she becomes wrapped up in this bad boy. Josie has to concentrate to remember her favorite things, Nicolette loses her sense of control, and Aviva lets him callher by a name she hates. Is letting go of yourself inevitable in a relationship, or can it be prevented? If so, how?

9. ·The author never names the boy who has wrought such havoc in these young women’s lives. Why do you think she made this decision? Do you think a lot of young men treat women in this way? Do young women hold any responsibility for the way their boyfriends treat them? If so, how much?

10. How can reading a book like this help prevent a girl from making the same mistakes as its characters?

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 51 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(31)

4 Star

(8)

3 Star

(4)

2 Star

(4)

1 Star

(4)

Your Rating:

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 51 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 8, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    John Tucker Must Die

    Bad boy good for a heart break

    A Bad Boy can be Good for a Girl, written by Tanya Lee Stone, is an amazing story about three girls Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva. The three girls meet what they think is the cutest, sweetest guy until reality hits. Out of the clouds and back to earth hitting the ground running, the girls deal with heartbreak. This book travels with the girls ups and downs in a teenage relationship. It¿s a great read for teenagers and older women who have experienced the unreal feeling of teen love and have gone through bad breakups. Many girls can relate to the feeling of rejection, not being good enough, throwing away their heart to an unworthy person and watching them tear it to pieces. There are 223 wonderful pages in a journal format. A fast read with a great lesson for life, love and relationships. If you like the movie John Tucker Must Die your definitely going to love this book. I know I did!

    7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted December 29, 2010

    Love It!!!

    i am a girl in 8th grade and i really enjoyed this book!!! i read itt in 2-3 hours!!!!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 26, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    The Adoration of Jenna Fox

    ATTENTION & BEWARE ALL HIGHSCHOOOL GIRLS. !

    In this book the characters Josie, Nicolette and Aviva Are faced with one common high school problem- DATING THE IRRESTISTABLE SENIOR JOCK (T.L.). These Girls Struggle day by day with rumors, Mood changes, being ignored around the guy who they THINK loves them. Through all of this they also have the struggles to keep their confidence, and self respect. T.L. dates these girls one after the other making them FEEL appreciated and then Crushing them back down. "TT"

    I like the Character Josie. She is a freshman in high school, and knows what's best for her. "I'm not stuck up im confident there's a big difference" she quotes in the beginning of the book this shows me that she knows who she is as a person. I also likes that the author uses different countries such as Western Europe to make a point without being up front when T.L. took all of the girls to the Red light district: "I thought Red light was just a name he had made up .... Turns out it's a place for prostitutes in Amsterdam." In the Book I dislikes that it's Very predictable when T.L is going to crush these girls but it happens really fast.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 15, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    The Lovely Bones

    "A bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl" was a good book.

    This book was very interesting, it kept me wanting to read more. It was short, but good. I like reading about sex and kissing and boys, because in reality its what teenagers now days are either doing, or wanting to do. It was full of excitement the whole time. It was a book about a teenage girl who is trying to be forced into having sex. It's a big decision for her. To either fit in and do it, or stand her ground. I recommend this book to anyone!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 2, 2008

    Great Book

    this is a really good book. SERIOUSLY DONT READ IF YOU ARE IMATURE. this book is really good for teenage girls.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 20, 2012

    YOU WILL LOVE IT

    I just finished this book and I LOVED it! It was a short read but it kept me reading and turning the pages. DEFINETELY A GOOD READ! And it really shows what some high school jocks are really out for. MUST READ!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 28, 2012

    August 28,2012

    This book is good for teen break ups but only girl teens. This book does have sex in it but it didn't say it so i read it and was shocked to find sex in it because it didn't say there would be!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 8, 2012

    Good

    I loved this book a little bad here and there but when i stared reading it i could not put it down

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 4, 2012

    Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing!

    This could be considered a must read for an 8th grade girl (and boy for that matter) to help better navigate those tumultuous high school years where everything is not what it appears to be. I liked the strong female protagonists and could see a little of myself in each of them at that age. Just a caution to parents, there is some sexual content - you may wish to read first and then your child.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 14, 2011

    Hyuu

    Gghh

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 16, 2011

    BEST BOOK EVER!!

    omg its so true and real!! its AWESOME!

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  • Posted January 14, 2011

    hxncbxbcncnc

    vdchxvfjxbd shcvdjdhdnd sbdbsnsgdjfbq djdgesgdhgbhgggg xnxnxnnxmc

    0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 25, 2010

    OMG!

    I read this book in one day. It was great, and oh so true!

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  • Posted September 8, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Revolutionising

    Two days before going on holiday with some girlfriends, I raided the library to find something to read on my trip. Little did i know that by pure chance....or could it be fate?, i had lifted of the shelves a living piece of knowledge that would truly speak to me. Having had bad experiences that brought me into true self doubt, as have all teenage girls, i found myself relating in some way to each of the girls in this book.Not only their combined reaction but also their resolution to stay strong and self secure inspired me to take on an aspect of each of their characters and aspire to envisage the same qualities. It's genuinely a must have, awe inspiring read for teenage girls....and perhaps the odd boy. I must say that the author of this book is severely under appreciated for thid book; it goes much deeper than sex if you choose to look. Thanks so much, it truly helped.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 16, 2009

    every girl needs to read this

    i hate reading, its the last think i ever want to do...i read this book not even joking in one night...i couldnt put it down....i dont kno why i just could relate to every character and by the end of the book i just wanted to punch the guy in the face lol but i loved this book its sad that thre are guys out there like that but with this book it will make u wake up and relize u need to be carefully for those guys so u dont get your heart broken.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 19, 2009

    Age limit

    What is the age limit 4 this book

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 15, 2008

    I Also Recommend:

    One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
    What My Mother Doesn't Know
    What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know
    Take Me There

    REALLY GOOD BOOK

    Its a great book!! Very graphic though!!! But i loved it dont read if immature.

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  • Posted October 26, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    Reviewed by Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" for TeensReadToo.com

    Don't let the title of this book fool you. The "bad boy" in question is definitely bad, and the "can be good" part is more in the vein of "thank God I learned something out of this" rather than "oh, he's so gooood to me." That being said, every high-school age girl in the world needs to read this book, before they meet the proverbial bad boy who, although good at breaking your heart, isn't really good at anything else. <BR/><BR/>Told in verse, A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL is the story of three girls at Point Beach High. Three very different girls: Josie, the super-confident, always responsible, throw-my-hair-up-in-a-ponytail-and- still-look-good girl; Nicolette, the girl who knows she's called a slut behind her back but doesn't care, because by using her body to get what she wants, she's always in control; and Aviva, the Criss-Crosser, who's not too smart, not too pretty, but always popular with every group she befriends. <BR/><BR/>Three girls, who all have the misfortune of meeting the same bad boy at PBH, not always at separate times. You know the type of bad boy I mean--he calls the freshmen girls "freshmeat"; the abandoned storage closet is his own personal "Red Light District"; the urge to get a girl on her back is much stronger than his desire to get good grades. <BR/><BR/>When Josie comes to her senses and sees what's happened to herself after being duped and dumped by the bad boy of PBH, she sets out to warn the other girls in school before it can happen to them. What happens next is a story of self-discovery, broken hearts, and renewed spirits for three very different girls. <BR/><BR/>A BAD BOY CAN BE GOOD FOR A GIRL is a wake-up call to every girl whose ever said she doesn't need a boyfriend to be complete--to every boy whose only looked at girls as a piece of meat with breasts. A great, inspiring read for all ages.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 11, 2008

    good book

    at first let me say this book is not, I repeat, IS NOT for young readers. but if you are of age this is actually a very good book maybe not a 'talk to dad about it' book but it is well written and very good at explaining the pressures of high school

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 24, 2008

    This is Poetic Justic Personified

    This book begins and ends with inside pages filled with handwritten graffiti. For all the people who believe that a woman scorned can be a vengeful thing, this book is vengeful cubed. Three different girls, Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva encounter the same attractive jock and fall in love with him. For every girl who has thought it wouldn¿t happen to her or for every girl who believed that only weak, stupid women get played, this book is a revelation. Written in poetic verse, this is the story about three girls who are taking back the power in lives and relationships. It will strike a resonating chord in all of the young ladies who read it and either see themselves or good friends in the experiences. The caveat that I would have with this story would be for young women not to lump all young men in the category of the one portrayed in this book. The use of verse strengthens the emotional appeal and makes this a fast read. It amazed me to see the depth of feeling the author was able to tap into using just a few, carefully chosen words. This book would be great for teaching poetry as well as an opportunity to discuss relationships and the way men and women view sexuality. Overall, it¿s a book that requires a strong level of maturity, but is potentially powerful as a cautionary tale.

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