Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball by Risa Green - Review

The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball
Risa Green
Sourcebooks
September 2010

Erin Channing adores Art History and her two best friends, Lindsay and Samantha.  She prides herself on being the rational one in the group.  But, ultimately, Erin believes her life is boring.  She needs to write a knockout essay to convince the COMMITTEE OF TENTH GRADE TEACHERS that she deserves to travel to Italy and study the Masters.  When Erin inherits a crystal ball from her aunt Kiki, whom her dad calls Kooky, she is hesitant to think it's the answer to her prayers.  After testing the ball on a few small items, Erin decides to go for broke!

The Secret Society totally sucked me in from the beginning.

"Things About Me That Might, in an Alternate Universe, Be Interesting..."
"I have the highest GPA in the tenth grade."
"I can recite the periodic table in alphabetical order to the tune of the disco classic YMCA."

I am immediately drawn into the serious but humor-filled tone of the novel.  I want to know more about the Uber Geek that is Erin Channing.  Erin's like the middle child of the three friends, she is not cool like Samantha and she is not overly critical of herself like Lindsay.  She knows who she is and, up till now, her life was enough.  But this essay contest reminds her that her life is too rational and she doesn't really do anything for "fun".  Now, with the Pink Crystal Ball, she can recapture the magic with Jesse Cooper and get that trip to Italy. Hilarity ensues as the Ball interprets wishes in it's own way.  When everything starts to fall apart, Erin tries to undo some of the magic.  This, unfortunately, is where the story falls apart a little.  We must believe that Erin can change the mind of a bully by visiting and reverse a stalker's actions by email.  I didn't get there by what I'd read. But, I could have missed things in my attempt to finish the book on my self-imposed schedule.

All in all, I enjoyed the Pink Crystal Ball because it showed a great friendship between the three high school girls and Jesse Cooper sounded hot!  I appreciated that it was story about high school that didn't involve excessive drinking and jumping in and out of bed.  I'm hoping we'll see additional books about the other girls in the trio and I will be sure to pick them up.  I give this 4 copies.  Pair this one with The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy and celebrate the wonderful young ladies in your life!

Oh, and my favorite line: "Smexy...you know. Smart and Sexy. Like a hot librarian." - How does Risa Green know me?  Ha!

Check out the Facebook page for The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the copy.

2 comments:

  1. My middle school girls have been loving this book. As soon as one reads it another one checks it out. I really liked it too. Great review.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for chatting! I love comments and look forward to reading yours! I may not reply right away, but I am listening! Keep reading and don't forget to be awesome!

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