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Meanicures
When three best friends get together, the first thing they talk about these days is always the mean girls in their lives. They decide to banish their enemies by holding a ceremony and burning slips of paper with the mean girls' names on them. But soon afterwards, they discover themselves becoming mean, and they must find a way--with a little help from the owner of their local beauty shop--to reverse the ceremony and revert to the sweet (mostly), kind (if slightly imperfect) personalities. Catherine Clark's first middle-grade novel is a humorous look at the mysterious--and wonderful--nature of friendship.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Clark
70 books391 followersI love reading books for children, young adults, new adults and all the old people after that.
I love writing for pretty much the same audiences.
I love writing for pretty much the same audiences.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 21, 2010
I was initially intrigued by Meanicures’s cover so when I had the chance to read this book through an ARC tour I thought, “Why not?” Once I received the book and started reading it I realized it was probably aimed at more of a middle grade than a YA audience, which is not what I expected. However, I still had high expectations after reading a few chapters. I can relate to Madison’s experience of not quite being the coolest kid in school, and the story was set in Maine. I have a particular soft spot for Maine as my mom grew up there and we go back to visit practically every summer. Unfortunately, I didn’t really leave this story feeling satisfied.
The plot of the story was fine. At one point I feared that it was going to take a turn towards ridiculous, but by the time I finished this story it felt more realistic. The very ending felt a little bit off to me, and I think this was the case of how Madison decided to phrase things.
For me, my main hang up with this story was the characters. I felt that I got to knew Madison and the mean girls fairly well, yet was totally unable to connect to Taylor and Olivia. I was really frustrated at how malleable and easy to sway they seemed. I realize this may have been part of Clark’s point about bullying, that it’s easy for people to get caught up in it. Olivia particularly annoyed me, she was just so insensitive and oblivious and I feel like I never actually learned anything about what was going through her head. Otherwise I think I may have liked her a bit more. If this were to become a series and Olivia were developed more throughout, I think this might have made more sense, but this book appears to be intended as a standalone (I could be wrong, though).
I think if Meanicures had been a bit longer with more depth to the characters, I would have enjoyed it more. Overall, however, this story was a light, quick and enjoyable read which I think lots of young girls will be able to relate.
The plot of the story was fine. At one point I feared that it was going to take a turn towards ridiculous, but by the time I finished this story it felt more realistic. The very ending felt a little bit off to me, and I think this was the case of how Madison decided to phrase things.
For me, my main hang up with this story was the characters. I felt that I got to knew Madison and the mean girls fairly well, yet was totally unable to connect to Taylor and Olivia. I was really frustrated at how malleable and easy to sway they seemed. I realize this may have been part of Clark’s point about bullying, that it’s easy for people to get caught up in it. Olivia particularly annoyed me, she was just so insensitive and oblivious and I feel like I never actually learned anything about what was going through her head. Otherwise I think I may have liked her a bit more. If this were to become a series and Olivia were developed more throughout, I think this might have made more sense, but this book appears to be intended as a standalone (I could be wrong, though).
I think if Meanicures had been a bit longer with more depth to the characters, I would have enjoyed it more. Overall, however, this story was a light, quick and enjoyable read which I think lots of young girls will be able to relate.
October 7, 2010
This was an enjoyable way to blow a couple of hours. This book was wrote more for tweens than it was for teens, but it was light and funny, and I had a good time reading it. Madison, Olivia, and Taylor are tired of being humiliated by the mean girls, worse yet, those mean girls used to be their best friends. Now they can't even walk near them with having an insult fly their way.
Embarrassed after the worst Monday ever, the girls decide to have a cleansing party, cutting theirselves off from their old friends. They burn their names on pieces of paper, and put mementos of their past friendship in storage. They didn't think it would actually do anything, turns out, they'd never been more wrong. Suddenly, Madison, Olivia, and Taylor are turning into the mean girls. They're saying things they don't really mean, they're pulling mean-spirited pranks, they're evening turning on each other! Now they have to figure out how to get things back to normal, before they've lost all of their friends for good!
This book was a little shorter than I would have liked. You didn't really have time to connect with the characters before they were turned into someone else completely. The storyline was funny and easy to connect with. We've all had mean girls in our lives, whether we knew them, or were them. It all depends on how you dealt with them if you made it through unscathed. I loved the karmic fallback of the fun ritual the girls did, and I loved the funny clips that Olivia did on the morning announcements. Overall, this was a entertaining read if you're in the mood for something light when you have a few hours to blow.
Embarrassed after the worst Monday ever, the girls decide to have a cleansing party, cutting theirselves off from their old friends. They burn their names on pieces of paper, and put mementos of their past friendship in storage. They didn't think it would actually do anything, turns out, they'd never been more wrong. Suddenly, Madison, Olivia, and Taylor are turning into the mean girls. They're saying things they don't really mean, they're pulling mean-spirited pranks, they're evening turning on each other! Now they have to figure out how to get things back to normal, before they've lost all of their friends for good!
This book was a little shorter than I would have liked. You didn't really have time to connect with the characters before they were turned into someone else completely. The storyline was funny and easy to connect with. We've all had mean girls in our lives, whether we knew them, or were them. It all depends on how you dealt with them if you made it through unscathed. I loved the karmic fallback of the fun ritual the girls did, and I loved the funny clips that Olivia did on the morning announcements. Overall, this was a entertaining read if you're in the mood for something light when you have a few hours to blow.
November 7, 2012
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Catherine Clark makes her debut in middle grade fiction with MEANICURES. What happens when some of your so-called friends turn into the mean girls?
Seventh grade is bound to begin with changes, but Madison definitely wasn't expecting some of the changes she encountered. Most of her friends understand the challenges Madison faces when it comes to her mom and her crazy hair experiments, but when seventh grade begins with Madison trying to hide the hideous green streaks caused by her mother's latest product testing, she discovers several of her former friends use it as an opportunity to taunt and tease. And that's just the start of their new mean girl attitude.
Madison and her two remaining friends, Olivia and Taylor, are determined to figure out a way to separate themselves from the other girls who seem to consider it their full-time job to make life miserable for them. Ignoring them doesn't appear to make any difference, so Madison plans a way to use a magic spell to repel their negative energy. The only problem is, it seems that the spell reverses itself and is now turning Madison, Olivia, and Taylor into mean girls, too.
MEANICURES may be just the book to get real girls thinking about their own relationships. Ms. Clark uses humor, the fear of bad hair days and public humiliation, along with typical middle school behavior, to entertain as well as make a point about the difficulties of young friendships.
Catherine Clark makes her debut in middle grade fiction with MEANICURES. What happens when some of your so-called friends turn into the mean girls?
Seventh grade is bound to begin with changes, but Madison definitely wasn't expecting some of the changes she encountered. Most of her friends understand the challenges Madison faces when it comes to her mom and her crazy hair experiments, but when seventh grade begins with Madison trying to hide the hideous green streaks caused by her mother's latest product testing, she discovers several of her former friends use it as an opportunity to taunt and tease. And that's just the start of their new mean girl attitude.
Madison and her two remaining friends, Olivia and Taylor, are determined to figure out a way to separate themselves from the other girls who seem to consider it their full-time job to make life miserable for them. Ignoring them doesn't appear to make any difference, so Madison plans a way to use a magic spell to repel their negative energy. The only problem is, it seems that the spell reverses itself and is now turning Madison, Olivia, and Taylor into mean girls, too.
MEANICURES may be just the book to get real girls thinking about their own relationships. Ms. Clark uses humor, the fear of bad hair days and public humiliation, along with typical middle school behavior, to entertain as well as make a point about the difficulties of young friendships.
March 18, 2012
We all have people we don't like in life. Sometimes we wish we can make them all just go away (along with the rest of life's problems.)But can simply writing the person's name on a piece of paper and tearing it up really make that happen?
That's exactly what the heroines in Meanicures did.
Meanicures is a story of a Jr. High kid named Madison, and all she talks about is how mean this group of girls can be--from making her believe a certain boy wants to ask her to a dance to making fun of her green hair!
Anyways, one day, she goes to a salon, where she picks up an idea from the stylists: To get rid of the person in your life, write the name on a piece of paper and destroy it.
For some reason, it ends up working. But now Madison and her friends have the mean streak going. Apparently, the meanness bounced back onto them, and they can't shake it off. Now, they must reverse the "spell."
To me, this all seemed a little too far-fetched. First of all, the stylists that came up with this ritual really didn't know what she was doing. Hell, she didn't even recognize Madison when she came in the second time. What a ding bat.
This wasn't witch craft or voodoo. This was just a story for ditsy middle schoolers.
But, at least, you get through it quickly. I mean, who can't do 200 pages in one sitting, right?
That's exactly what the heroines in Meanicures did.
Meanicures is a story of a Jr. High kid named Madison, and all she talks about is how mean this group of girls can be--from making her believe a certain boy wants to ask her to a dance to making fun of her green hair!
Anyways, one day, she goes to a salon, where she picks up an idea from the stylists: To get rid of the person in your life, write the name on a piece of paper and destroy it.
For some reason, it ends up working. But now Madison and her friends have the mean streak going. Apparently, the meanness bounced back onto them, and they can't shake it off. Now, they must reverse the "spell."
To me, this all seemed a little too far-fetched. First of all, the stylists that came up with this ritual really didn't know what she was doing. Hell, she didn't even recognize Madison when she came in the second time. What a ding bat.
This wasn't witch craft or voodoo. This was just a story for ditsy middle schoolers.
But, at least, you get through it quickly. I mean, who can't do 200 pages in one sitting, right?
July 12, 2010
I was first intrigued by the cover, I love the cover of this book. Then after reading the description I knew that I had to get my hands on a copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book, but I feel that it should have been longer. It could have easily been longer and still enjoyable. The beginning was very fun and a fast read, but as it got to the part where Madison and her friends were the mean girls, the book basically ended. There wasn't really a lot of depth into the book or the characters.
Saying this, I still really enjoyed the book. I would say that this would be for more of a tween than a teen book. There isn't really a lot going on, no romance or anything and the writing seemed more based on a younger age group.
But it was a fun light read and I enjoyed it.
Saying this, I still really enjoyed the book. I would say that this would be for more of a tween than a teen book. There isn't really a lot going on, no romance or anything and the writing seemed more based on a younger age group.
But it was a fun light read and I enjoyed it.
Read
January 26, 2014Meanicures is a cute little read. And when I say little, I mean short - it was very short. This was the big downfall for me.
The author didn't give herself enough pages or words to flesh out the characters as much as I enjoy. The idea was kind of fun, but right as I was figuring out which character name went to which girl, the book was basically over.
A cute read, Meanicures may be better suited for a middle grade reader rather than a young adult because of the simple nature of the plot and characters. I didn't not enjoy it, I just didn't get the satisfaction at the end that I was hoping for.
The author didn't give herself enough pages or words to flesh out the characters as much as I enjoy. The idea was kind of fun, but right as I was figuring out which character name went to which girl, the book was basically over.
A cute read, Meanicures may be better suited for a middle grade reader rather than a young adult because of the simple nature of the plot and characters. I didn't not enjoy it, I just didn't get the satisfaction at the end that I was hoping for.
October 7, 2012
A middle grade/tween read!
Concept/Ideas: 4/5
Storyline/Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Cover art: Well, it's cute! It does relate to the book, so I give it that. I love the colors of the cover, and it's definitely fun and girly, perfect for attention grabbing to any tweenage girl. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the covers that are have designed/drawn/digitally created people on them though. I find it hard to picture a real life character in my mind when they do a cartoon one on the cover. But that's just me!
Concept/Ideas: 4/5
Storyline/Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Cover art: Well, it's cute! It does relate to the book, so I give it that. I love the colors of the cover, and it's definitely fun and girly, perfect for attention grabbing to any tweenage girl. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the covers that are have designed/drawn/digitally created people on them though. I find it hard to picture a real life character in my mind when they do a cartoon one on the cover. But that's just me!
March 28, 2011
Meh. Middle school girls who were best friends and are now growing apart. Madison decides to try and get them out of her life, so she writes their names on pieces of paper and throws them in the fireplace. But suddenly the mean girls are acting nice, and Madison and her friends are being rude back. The only way to fix things is to have a manicure party to get read of the meanness - or a meanicure party.
November 17, 2010
I don't often read books for middle grade readers, and when I do, I often give up after a chapter or two because it is predictable, boring or just plain poorly written. I happily read through Meanicures, engaged by the characters, humor, and set up of the action. And it seemed true to life, in that it didn't tie things up all pretty in the end, just enough to be satisfying.
February 13, 2016
This was just horrible and boring. It will never be that easy to get rid of people, ofcourse something will rebound on you. :\ I really liked the characters at the beginning, but after the whole mess I started to dislike them.
December 16, 2013
This book was a bit confusing in the beginning, and I'm not sure why it was. Throughout the book I realized that it wasn't the best book I've ever read because they thought that if they put things from their past away that the memories disappear and that's not really how it works.
Read
February 11, 2011i think it was good
February 6, 2013
it was a really good book. It reminded me of me and my BFF!
October 31, 2013
its a good book especially if your in a mood to read a excitingly girly book
Want to read
September 10, 2016New "mean girls" book for middle school/upper elem
RL 620
RL 620
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews