i tried to give it a chance (because maybe the ending would provide a moral judgement to counter point all this bad behavior) but no - the beautiful cheerleaders keep their perfect lives and the world keeps turning. However, it did really pick up at the end for a super creepy campfire read, as long as you cut out most of it.

The twist and the ending of this book was fantastic, something I personally haven't come across before or since reading this ten years ago, and I would love to have been able to love the entirety of the story, I'm sad that I just can't. Kristi's voice had a tone that made it sound as if she'd been telling people all her life what to do, and they'd been doing it. Now the girls feel prying eyes on them all the time -- during pep practice, on the path through the woods, outside the window of their cabin. The climax will stun young adult readers who will not see it coming as Laura Kasischke takes her audience on a creepy joy ride along BOY HEAVEN ridge. I just remembered reading this in maybe 2009-2010, and I had to find it, because I thought I might have imagined it.Three cheerleaders Kristy, Desiree and Kristi escape for the day from cheerleading camp, they want to drive to Lovers Lake and on the way they tease 2 boys by smiling at them and then later flashing at them. J'y ai retrouvé un certain suspense, tout comme dans "Esprit d'hiver", que j'avais adoré, mais aussi l'habileté de Laura Kasischke à retranscrire les pensées et à décortiquer les relations, avec beaucoup de justesse. Framed in an urban legend, the story centers around pretty, popular 17-year-old Kristy Sweetland and her week at cheerleading camp. Afterwards, I would have scared myself silly with it by re-living it while playing outdoors on a summer night. Admittedly, the title and cover of this hardback (the cover features a dreamily fuzzed photograph of three teen girls staring out over a lake, their long hair blowing in a breeze) led me to believe that this would be a cheesy chick-lit read.

Even by the time I’d reached page 160 and nothing of significant importance had happened yet, I was so drawn in to the mystery, my expectations were so high from the book’s summary as well as the general tilt of suspense, that I had to keep turning the page.It follows three teenage cheerleaders, Kristy, Kristi, and Desiree, at cheerleading camp (yes, I almost put the book down for that alone). It was the last novel by her I hadn't read, but honestly, it seems pretty mature in style and themes for a YA reader--reminiscent in voice and descriptive detail of Jo Ann Beard's In Zanesville and Jayne Anne Phillips's Sanctuary, although there's more melodrama here. When we read young adult fiction, or even watch teen movies, there’s usually that overly revered popular girl, who is so wicked that the audience spends most of the movie wondering how she got to be so popular in the first place. Okay, teen girls in bathing-suits are not necessarily my thing but this book probably won’t embarrass you too much, at least at the beach, since the cover screams summer read. So for whatever reason, I didn't realize this was a YA novel, despite the title and seeing a small thumbnail of the cover when I requested it from the library.

The situation affects each girl differently: Kristy reflects on past events that have shaped her, such as the loss of her father; Desiree starts a risky relationship with a cute lifeguard; and the third girl, Kristi "with an I," becomes withdrawn and anorexic. As you read and things become more serious, these comparisons and word choices begin to make sense, and you remember them. The thing is, I've read quite a few books targeted at adults that broach fewer "taboos" than this book did and they do it with a greater sensibility in their approach. Desiree looked at me, rolled her eyes, but I nodded into the rearview mirror at this Kristi, whose mirrored sunglasses reflected mine reflecting hers reflecting mine. Read more about the condition Very Good: A book that has been read and does not look new, but is in excellent condition.

I wasn't like Desiree, with a handful of snow for a heart(Once she'd stuffed a gum wrapper into the Salvation Army bucket outside the mall pretending it was a dollar, and when the bellringer had said, "Thank you miss!

Kasischke's take on an urban legend through the lives of three teenage girls and the boys they touch is riveting. Seventeen-year-old Kristy Sweetland is a pretty, blonde cheerleader away for the summer at cheer camp. Okay, so the beginning reads like just about a thousand movies I've consistently avoided like the plague of American cinema that they are.

When Kristy, Desiree and another girl sneak out of camp to go cruising, Kristy gives two boys an accidental smile which sets off an unexpected chain of events. The pacing of this book was magnificent, something I struggle with in my own writing, as well as the characterizations.