A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl (review)

A studly senior, initials T. L., prowls his way mercilessly through the halls of a high school, scoping out girls vulnerable to his predatory charm, only to dump them once the relationship is sexually consummated or it becomes obvious that it won't be. His story is told through the affecting free verse of three of his conquests, Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva, each of whom initially insists that she is confident in her own attractiveness and resistant to the games of players like T. L. His first glance, however, turns them into puddles of goo, and they each willfully mistake his attention as an affirmation of their specialness in his universe, ignoring the overheard jibes of his friends and fully believing his made-for-teen-movie lines. Josie, the youngest of the three, is the most self-aware both during and after her seduction, and she decides to "out" T. L. by turning the blank pages at the back of the library copy of Forever into a bulletin board for the burned, directing both Nicolette and Aviva there when it becomes obvious that they have joined that not-very-select club. This is an appealing topic, and Stone creates credible voices for her girls. The message of strength is undercut, though, by tired clichés and stereotypes, especially as the girls, at first so assertive about their empowered sexuality, wilt into needy and deceived victims, and the boys are given no credit for any emotional depth or complexity. Moreover, there is the clear message that this kind of pain is necessary for female emotional growth and that being savvy enough to avoid it is somehow a mark of immaturity, as these girls pity their friends who haven't yet crushed and been crushed. This will nonetheless speak to a large audience of girls willing to martyr themselves on the altar of heartless high-school demigods; recommend it to girls who take grrl rockers' "pain is power" lyrics as their late-night anthems.