JERSEY TOMATOES ARE THE BEST by Maria Padian

Padian, Maria. Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2011. ISBN: 978-0375865633

Imagine being best friends with someone and then realize you will not see each other for a whole summer. That is what Henry Lloyd and Eva Smith feel like. They are Jersey girls and best friends.  Henry loves tennis and Eva loves dance. But their summer did not go exactly as planned.

Henry Lloyd got invited to go to Chadwick tennis camp in Florida for the summer and Eva Smith got accepted into the New York School of Dance. Both were thrilled at their accomplishments until they figured out that they would be far away from each other for the whole summer. Once both girls were at their summer camps, they loved their experiences and still kept in touch and told each other all the drama. Henry was at the top of the tennis rankings at Chadwick, and Eva was always noticed by the her ballet instructor and even asked to demonstrate. Little did anyone know that Eva had not been eating much. While Henry was making new friends and creating memories, people started to notice Eva becoming very skinny. Eva had anorexia. When Henry found out Eva’s problem, she could not stop thinking how bad of a friend she had been. Henry knew she needed to be there with Eva, so she drove back to Jersey. A few weeks later, Henry went back to camp and Eva went to a facility to help her eat correctly again. Because the facility was in Florida, they could see each other frequently. Henry and Eva never gave up on each other and that is what made them best friends.

The author, Maria Padian, shows what a true friendship looks like. Henry and Eva were there for each other for all the ups and downs they struggled through. This book really gets you hooked to see what happens next. It also really explains what anorexia can feel like and encourages you not to become anorexic. Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best is a book I encourage other teenagers to read not just for the fun of it, but aslso for those who struggle with eating disorders because it helps you understand what it feels like.

Review by Sarah, 8th grade

THE LIST by Siobhan Vivian

Vivian, Siobhan. The List. New York: Push, 2012. ISBN: 978-0545169172. 

On the last Monday in September, the students of Mount Washington High School will see copies of a certain list posted all over the school. It happens every year. It's unavoidable. It's a lottery of the ugliest and prettiest girls in the school, naming one of each category for each grade, 9th through 12th. The list is cruel but official, with a Mount Washington seal imprinted in the corner. Nobody knows who has the seal, or how it is passed down through the generations of list creators. But everybody knows that the notarized list will shape the school year for eight girls.

Siobhan Vivian's young adult novel takes on the volatile world of high school and shows how vicious it can be. The story follows the perspectives of the eight girls who were named on the most recent list, showing how each girl deals with what is either a great boost for popularity (for the prettiest) or a black mark of undesirability (for the ugliest).

Vivian explores the emotional complexities that accompany unrequested notoriety. The winners of Prettiest are flattered, but also cautious, and subconsciously aware that being pretty doesn't really matter all that much. Margot, the senior winner, is unnerved by the knowledge that her sister's "victory" the year before actually caused her to lose friends and retreat from the social strata, and she is also anxious about her unresolved history with her Ugly counterpart. Bridget, the junior prettiest girl, battles with an eating disorder -- one that caused the weight loss that got her recognized. Sophomore prettiest Lauren is new in town, still sheltered after being homeschooled, and she doesn't quite know how to handle the newfound attention she attracts. Finally, Abby, the prettiest freshman girl and a less-than-stellar student, struggles with conflicting feelings of insecurity and superiority, especially since her plain and academically brilliant older sister starts to give her the cold shoulder.

The emotional repercussions for the "ugliest" girls are expectedly severe. The senior, Jennifer, has made the list as ugliest for the fourth year in a row, and she longs to buck expectations as she tries to embrace her "ugliest girl in school" status. Junior Sarah reacts by making herself as ugly as possible, not showering and not changing clothes, to the detriment of her relationship with someone who thinks she's beautiful. Sophomore Candace, pretty and popular on the surface, is alienated by her friends and must address the fact that no one actually likes her as a person. In the freshman class, athletic swimmer Danielle is nicknamed "Dan the Man" and is ostracized by her own boyfriend.

The List alternates between the girls' perspectives chapter-by-chapter, examining their interactions with each other, showing the unexpected alliances that form in the face of rejection, and teasing out the mystery of who writes the list each year.

The characters face their insecurities with varying degrees of success. The "ugly" girls come a longer way than the "pretty" girls in mature self-actualization, but some need more help than others. With its flawed characters, The List demonstrates that beauty isn't a free pass for an easy high school experience, and that what's going on beneath the surface is far more important than appearances.

With so many perspectives to toggle through, it's understandable that not every character's situation is fully explored. That said, I would like to have seen more intricacy in junior Bridget's storyline; her experience with an eating disorder was a little too simplistic. Such a complex, painful affliction is difficult to tackle in spurts like Vivian does throughout The List, and Bridget's internal monologue fell flat for me. Covering a character's internal battle with thoughts of "I'm healthy! Just eat! But I mustn't eat!" just doesn't illuminate the psychologically damaging aspects of that kind of struggle. I applaud Vivian for giving her characters genuine real-life issues and examining how those challenges are colored and complicated by high school peers, but I wanted a little more from this particular storyline.

Overall, The List does an excellent job of illustrating a high school battleground and the relationships therein. Not every character gets a happy ending or has an epiphany, but each girl's experience of growth and self-reflection is drawn in a realistic, thought-provoking way.

Reviewed by Jill Coste