The Accidental Bad Girl

Starred review from March 19, 2018
After getting caught with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend, Grant Powers, 17-year-old Kendall Evans starts her senior year at Brooklyn’s private Howell Preparatory School branded as a “slut.” Her best friend, Audrey Khalil, won’t speak to her, while Grant is unscathed by the scandal. Kendall plans to keep her head down until she can escape to Rice University’s accelerated astrophysics senior semester program, but she’s wrongly accused of stealing “doses” from drug dealer Mason Frye. With help from fellow outcast Simone Moody and theater geek Michael “Gilly” Gilbert, Kendall sets out to clear her name and discovers that her inner “bad girl” may not be so bad after all. Kaplan’s sharply written, twisty thriller, narrated by the savvy Kendall, deftly explores the shades of gray between “good” and “bad” and the freedom of self-acceptance and shines a light on issues such as rape culture, bullying, and enduring sexual double standards. This love letter to any girl who’s ever been labeled “bad” will enthrall readers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ali McDonald, the Rights Factory.

February 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Kendall used to be a "good girl"-an honors student, math and science wiz, and a member of a trio of "it" girls at Howell Preparatory, an elite school attended by Brooklyn's upper echelon. Responsible, attractive, smart, and self-sufficient are all adjectives that would've been used to describe her prior to the day she got "caught" with her best friend's ex-boyfriend at the end of her junior year. Ostracized, Kendall starts senior year counting down the days until graduation. Just as she is beginning to settle into what she believes will be a year of scornful isolation, she is attacked by a mysterious girl in the school bathroom. To add insult to injury, someone has hacked her Facebook page, and Kendall suddenly is framed for stealing from a drug dealer. Blackmailed into partnering with the dealer to deliver drugs until she can prove her innocence, the protagonist embraces her "bad girl" facade in a wayward attempt to salvage her fractured reputation. This is a simmering, angsty take on the whodunit genre. Kendall introspectively wears the "bad girl" mask while grappling with what it means to be one. The delineation between good and bad characters is blurred, which makes for a great read and lively discussions about decision making and choices. Kaplan cleverly addresses sexuality, gender bias, identity, and rape culture in this page turner that is classic YA mystery with an undercurrent of sex-positive feminism. VERDICT Recommended for school and public libraries serving older teens.-Tamela Chambers, Chicago Public Schools, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2018
A once-popular prep school girl, blackmailed into working for a drug dealer, sleuths out the true criminals.Kendall was once a member of the popular clique of mean girls, until she was caught having sex with her best friend's ex at the end of junior year. Nobody blames Grant for the semi-public sex, but Kendall starts senior year ostracized: Her friends have shut her out, she's being slut-shamed, and she's even physically attacked at school. Someone's hacked her Facebook account, making it look like she's been spending time with a drug dealer. Mason, the young white man who provides Ecstasy to local teens, improbably blackmails Kendall into delivering his drugs. As the wealthy white girl encounters careless malevolence throughout her community, she rages against gender-biased social standards. The boys--college bros, dealers, nerds--all share a sense of entitlement when it comes to the girls' bodies and behavior. Kendall begins by looking out for No. 1, but as she discovers her part in something far more vile than delivering Ecstasy, she considers putting herself on the line to do what's right. Ultimately, the girls, while never holding hands and singing "Kumbaya," do come together to fight against rape culture.Genuine high school drama, painfully inspiring for the #MeToo age. (Fiction. 14-18)

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March 15, 2018
Grades 10-1 Kendall's social life pretty much tanked after she had sex with her best friend's ex-boyfriend. She's on her own for the start of senior year, although honestly things could be worse?she's been accepted into a prestigious astrophysics program that starts in January, so she only has to last one semester. Then Kendall is framed for stealing from a drug dealer. Mason, the dealer in question, doesn't much care that she's innocent, but is willing to let her off the hook if she finds the real culprit. To keep her future safe, Kendall has to play a part, and the more she acts like a girl involved with a drug dealer, the more she starts to enjoy herself. But drugs have consequences, and Kendall's about to find out just how far-reaching Mason's business is. Some stilted dialogue and one-note characterizations don't entirely detract from the effect of Kaplan's debut, which, more than anything, plays with how girls are perceived in society. An intriguing look at feminism in American culture and the price we pay for our reputations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
Pretty Kendall's popularity plummets after getting caught hooking up with her best friend's boyfriend by the entire senior class. Kendall doesn't feel worthy of shame, but a local drug dealer uses her reputation to blackmail and recruit her. What begins as a vaguely feminist social drama gives way to a somewhat implausible crime thriller; it's a compelling but not entirely cohesive combination.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)