The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

Yes, I've been reading over the break and now it's time to start posting.  It hasn't been many books (I seriously just vegged most of the break!) but I'll post a book a day until I'm done.  And onto the reviews!

Raye is smart.  She knows she's going to a good college and knows that Fulton, a private all girl's school, is a great step in that direction.  She hangs with her best friend Natalya and spends her Tal weekends watching movie marathons on the SyFy channel and eating homemade brownies.  But one night, she decides to step out of her comfort zone.  What better way to do that than online?

Raye sets up a fake facebook page and starts friending people she knows is out of her league.  Like Julian, the hottie from MacArthur, the private all guy's school and some of his friends.  It starts out harmlessly, but we all know what happens with those "harmless" situations....

Meanwhile, back at Fulton, Ella Parker reigns supreme as the most beautiful and untouchable of the Group.  It doesn't matter if she has OCD and wears gloves all the time, or sits on the third row in the third chair or taps things a specific amount of time.  Her beauty overshines everything.  But it's in a Chinese class that Ella has problems with where she and Raye's diverse galaxies collide.

What starts out as an innocent tutoring takes on new meaning when Raye shows Ella her faux facebook page.  With Julian as a friend, and the one to diss Ella at a party, the revenge begins....and the true personalities begin to come out....but can Raye go back to her true friendships or has she crossed the line?  Will the good girl get the guy or will evil and bitchiness triumph?

Griffin creates a quick read that is all about high school cliques, romances and relationships.  Reading this book is like walking down the halls of any typical high school.  It's about mean girls and those that want to fit in.  But Griffin does something different in this book (and you'll have to read it through to understand what I'm saying) and that to me, was the biggest draw of the book.  It's real, it's quick, it's fresh.  The characters, from the main character to the parents, are not drawn out for the reader but the author subtlely draws in reader reaction - you'll know who to love, who to hate, and who to be wary of.  Recommended for high school