The Rivals

( 6 )

All Available Formats + Editions

——

$9.99

NOOK Book

——

$9.99

The Rivals (eBook) Pub. Date: 2/6/2012 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
$2.19

$11.24

Hardcover

$2.19

$11.24

The Rivals Pub. Date: 2/6/2012 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

Advertising

Overview

When Alex Patrick was assaulted by another student last year, her elite boarding school wouldn't do anything about it. This year Alex is head of the Mockingbirds, a secret society of students who police and protect the student body. While she desperately wants to live up to the legacy that's been given to her, she's now dealing with a case unlike any the Mockingbirds have seen before.

It isn't rape. It isn't bullying. It isn't hate speech. A far-reaching prescription drug ring has sprung up, and students are using the drugs to cheat. But how do you try a case with no obvious victim? Especially when the facts don't add up, and each new clue drives a wedge between Alex and the people she loves most: her friends, her boyfriend, and her fellow Mockingbirds.

As Alex unravels the layers of deceit within the school, the administration, and even the student body the Mockingbirds protect, her struggle to navigate the murky waters of vigilante justice may reveal more about herself than she ever expected.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

Now president of the Mockingbirds, Themis Academy's underground justice society, Alex Patrick investigates a student prescription-drug ring. The drug in question is Anderin, a fictitious ADHD medication that works "like steroids for the brain." The student body votes that cheating is a crime against all students, and Alex and the organization follow a set of contradictory leads. Although the original Mockingbirds (2010) presented the underground group's procedures as a wondrously comprehensive set of checks and balances, the sequel sees Alex floundering both practically and ethically. Believably, the stigma and doubt from previous year's rape trial still cling to Alex, and both her internal struggle and other students' hostility are portrayed with compassion and nuance. The story is ultimately driven by plot, and the author effectively shuttles readers through the twists, turns and double-crosses of the investigation as well as the ups and downs of a romance. Under scrutiny, however, little holds up. Alex asks herself repeatedly if the ends (catching cheaters) justify the means (snooping through other students' belongings), but a tidy resolution despite Alex's snooping undermines the question. The premise that school administrators refuse to acknowledge student wrongdoing remains hard to swallow: Why on Earth aren't the administrators afraid of parental lawsuits? Slick, but, like a student on Anderin, less impressive when the effect wears off. (Fiction. 14 & up)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—At the elite Themis Academy, the dean of students so regularly turns a blind eye to misbehavior that students have been forced to create a vigilante justice system, the Mockingbirds, to investigate, try, and sentence their peers. Last year Alex Patrick was helped by this student court system as a victim of date-rape. She is now the leader of the inquisition in this stand-alone sequel to The Mockingbirds (Little, Brown, 2010). This year the problem involves a ring of students illegally using the ADHD prescription-medication Anderin to gain unfair advantage over their academic competitors. The plot twists and turns reveal one red herring after another. On the way, Alex comes to terms with her rape and moves forward both in coexisting with her attacker and establishing intimacy with her boyfriend. Overall, though, the characters are static and lack authentic voices: their revelations are preachy and didactic. Readers may never really identify with any of the characters, and the plot may be too complicated to hold their attention. Purchase only where the first book is popular.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780316090575
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: 2/6/2012
Pages: 344
Sales rank: 93,224
Age range: 15 - 18 Years
Product dimensions: 5.80 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.40 (d)

Meet the Author

Daisy Whitney is a new-media producer, a reporter, and an internationally known web show creator, and The Mockingbirds was her debut novel. She graduated from Brown University and lives in San Francisco, California, with her fabulous husband, fantastic kids, and adorable dog.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5

( 6 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(4)

4 Star

(2)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

Anonymous

Posted February 20, 2012

Amazing

Didn't want it to end.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted February 12, 2012

Great for a cold yucky day to snuggle up to read.

Good story and very inspiring

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Blue_coyote

Posted March 18, 2012

While The Rivals stands on its own, first time readers of Whitne

While The Rivals stands on its own, first time readers of Whitney's YA novel - set again at an exclusive boarding school for elite kids who are just too damn smart and talented for their own good - may enjoy it more if they have read The Mockingbirds first. But if you are up for a mystery, try this one first.

To recap, The Mockingbirds is about a student run justice league meant to protect victimized students and serve justice to those students who are guilty of inflicting crimes, when the school administration looks the other way. The first book tackled the all so real and heavy subject of date rape. In the sequel The Rivals, victim turned survivor/heroine Alex is back as the new leader of the justice group the Mockingbirds.

Now the first third of the book moved nicely, with Alex investigating the 'victimless' crime of the use of ADHD drugs on campus.

But whoa! Red herring, red herring, red herring...the story shifts in an unexpected way in the middle act, with the true mystery beginning to unravel as Alex continues to dig. Sometimes digging in ways that she regrets and even begins to question her authority.

Of course while all this is going on, like the first novel, she seeks comfort in two men - boyfriend Martin, and good friend Jones, will we have another love triangle emerging as in the first book? My lips are sealed.

Just when you think you know where the story is going, Whitney shifts directions again and throws the reader a surprise. Though the subject matter of the first book was more intense, this book seems darker than the first as the extent to which some privileged kids will go to hurt others is a reflection of what happens in schools all over regardless of socio economic levels.

I think the subject matter once revealed will hit home with a lot of kids. And even Alex is not above the act of revenge. It provokes many questions, is Alex's actions different than the others? And how far will some people/kids go to get what they want?

How far would you go?
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
AmyO122

Posted February 25, 2012

more from this reviewer

A heartfelt and moving sequel

I loved The Mockingbirds. I loved that it addresses the topic of date rape with class and respect without making the crime any less horrific. I wasn't sure what I would think of the sequel- how could the author top the emotional journey that takes place in The Mockingbirds? I was very pleasantly surprised that the next installment of Alex's journey was just as heartfelt and moving. Alex is still struggling with what happened to her last year plus she is dealing with the pressures of senior year and leading The Mockingbirds. Throw a boyfriend, a male friend who she's not sure how she feels about, a couple of bullies, an unsupportive school leader and her first big case with The Mockingbirds into the mix and you get a story that requires its main character to really figure out who she is, what she wants from life and where her loyalities lie. As with The Mockingbirds this book isn't always an easy read but the lessons learned are well worth the extra effort.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted May 7, 2012

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted February 11, 2012

No text was provided for this review.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble