Sister Mischief

by Laura Goode

Overview

A gay suburban hip-hopper freaks out her Christian high school — and falls in love — in this righteously funny and totally tender YA debut, for real.

Listen up: You’re about to get rocked by the fiercest, baddest all-girl hip-hop crew in the Twin Cities — or at least in the wealthy, white, Bible-thumping suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. Our heroine, Esme Rockett (aka MC Ferocious) is a Jewish lesbian lyricist. In her crew, Esme’s got her BFFs Marcy (aka DJ SheStorm, the butchest straight girl in town) and Tess (aka The ConTessa, the pretty, popular powerhouse of a vocalist). But Esme’s feelings for her co-MC, Rowie (MC Rohini), a beautiful, brilliant, beguiling desi chick, are bound to get complicated. And before they know it, the queer hip-hop revolution Esme and her girls have exploded in Holyhill is on the line. Laura Goode lays down a snappy, provocative, and heartfelt novel about discovering the rhythm of your own truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763646400
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	07/12/2011
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Laura Goode was raised in Minneapolis and received her BA and MFA in English and Writing from Columbia University. She has written, directed, and produced two full-length plays, and her poetry has appeared in theDenver Quarterly, Cannibal, and Narwhal. She lives in San Francisco.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a feminist love letter to my own mischievous sisters."
- Laura Goode — Quote

Editorial Reviews

Debut novelist Goode shows she's as much of a "word nerd" as her characters—four juniors bringing their queer-friendly brand of hip-hop to Minnesota's Twin Cities, like it or not. High School Musical this ain't: soon after readers meet Esme, the book's verse-slinging, no-nonsense narrator, she's losing her virginity in the back seat of Charlie Knutsen's Camry, basically to confirm what she already knows: "Definitely a homo. Like Same-Sex City, population Esme." She and her friends Marcy, Rowie, and Tessa are Sister Mischief, a hip-hop crew taking their lead from Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, and other pioneering female rappers. But when they try to form a club devoted to discussing queer and hip-hop culture, they find opposition from school policies and classmates, and a clandestine relationship between Esme and Rowie threatens the group's stability. Conversations about (admittedly important) issues—such as the politics of suburban white girls rapping—can feel forced, but Goode knows her stuff. The girls have an encyclopedic knowledge and deep love of hip-hop, and Esme's emotionally charged rhymes flow freely. If ever a book needed a soundtrack—or a beatbox—this is it. Ages 14–up. (July)

Publishers Weekly

The novel is notable for the uncommon credit for critical thought it gives its characters, and their ruminations on hip-hop history, sexism, and social alliances are inspiring… A nontraditional approach to an uncommon subject, SISTER MISCHIEF sets the lesbian coming-of-age narrative within a markedly positive hip-hop culture of the characters’ own creation.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Overall this debut is full of big ideas, big heart, and big poetry, with a positive, activist message.
—Booklist (starred review)

Welcome to the Queer Hip-Hop Revolution, young-adult-style. Transgressive Y.A. novels are all the rage-all the cool kids are reading them. Thus, continuing my desperate, life-long mission to sit at the popular table, I am too. Being a huge supporter of grrrl rockers, I fell hard for Laura Goode's SISTER MISCHIEF.
—Vanity Fair

An irreverent, in-your-face book that deals with sexuality and cultural bias with a big dose of humor interspersed....When the girls defy the school administration to form a gay/straight alliance, they learn what protest is all about. School pranks, gossip, college selection, first love, and bullying are interwoven into this unique novel.
—Library Media Connection

The girls have an encyclopedic knowledge and deep love of hip-hop, and Esme's emotionally charged rhymes flow freely. If ever a book needed a soundtrack—or a beatbox—this is it.
—Publishers Weekly

Snappy dialogue, likable characters and an original concept.
—Kirkus Reviews

An odd yet appealing combination of programmatic and subversive, this eminently discussable debut novel captures the vibrancy and messiness of teen life.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Snappy banter that can be pretty darn funny. In the end, Esme's story demonstrates to her friends, to the reader and, most importantly, to herself that despite her tough-girl persona, she can love-and live-passionately, openly and well.
—Bookpage

Esme's story demonstrates to her friends, to the reader and, most importantly, to herself that despite her tough-girl persona, she can love-and live-passionately, openly and well.
—Reading Corner (BookPage e-newsletter)

It's not that life is harder when you're a teenager, but the hard stuff is new and peculiar to you, and your options for for dealing with it are limited. It's true that it gets better, but there's also a certain kind of magic that can only happen when things aren't so great. Sister Mischief can teach you how to cast some of those spells.
—The Figment Review

From the Publisher

Hip-hop and rap, racial tensions, sex positivity, religion, coming out, even parental abandonment: At its low points, this reads like a checklist of hot-button issues.

But beneath the politics and too many lists of hip-hop/rap artists lies a touching story of impossible first love between narrator Esme, who knows she likes girls, and good friend Rohini, who might like girls but whose family is too traditionally Indian for her to even consider openly questioning her sexuality. There is also an improbable but entertaining students-against-administration subplot as the girls (Esme, Rohini, tough-but-beautiful Marcy and good girl Tess, who has fallen out with the A-list Christians) fight a recent ruling against any rap or "associated" apparel or materials at school. They create an alternative 4H (Hip-hop for Heteros and Homos) and hijack an assembly to drop some seriously intellectual beats. Highlighting the clutter of issues are frequent intrusions of a political, message-heavy adult voice. Do teen rappers, even white Jewish lesbians in the Christian heartland, really come up with lines like "We're done with sex hypocrisy up in this here gynocracy"?

Snappy dialogue, likable characters and an original concept make it hard to entirely dismiss this one, but the message overwhelms the good stuff. (Fiction. 14-17)

Kirkus Reviews