Children's books and book reviews - reading resource for kids, teachers, librarians, parents

Young adult book reviews for ages 12 and up - middle school and high school students




*Oh My Goth* by Gena Showalter - young adult book review

 




 
Oh My Goth
by Gena Showalter
Young adult 256 pages MTV Books July 2006 Paperback    

Jade Leigh is a teenage Goth girl trapped in a school full of Barbies. Along with her three other Goth friends, Jade is treated as an outcast, constantly ridiculed and bullied. Leading the ring of taunters is Mercedes, the most popular girl in the school.

During algebra one day, Jade is pushed too far. She lashes out at her math teacher and is sent to the principal's office yet again. Her principal comes up with an unusual punishment. In the spirit of teaching Jade a lesson, the principal conspires to send her into a virtual reality game where all the students are Goth just like Jade. Instead of being on the fringe of the social circle, she's the most popular girl in the school. Mercedes, Queen of the Barbies, is also sent into the game, where she takes Jade's place on the outside of the circle looking in. Because Jade and Mercedes are the only ones who realize how wrong things are, they have to work together to figure out a way out of the game and back to their normal lives.

Another big issue with the plot is that Jade's “punishment” doesn't seem to be the logical solution to her “crime.” She is disruptive in class, so she is sent to a virtual reality where she’s popular? How does one have anything to do with the other? Also, the reader never finds out why Mercedes was sent into the game as well, even though she, arguably, was the one who needed to be taught the popularity lesson.

My fear with this book was that it would end up being preachy and overpowering with a message about conformity as the author tried to impart a lesson to the reader. While it isn’t particularly preachy or overpowering, I'm not convinced that in the end the lesson the author sets the story up for is the lesson that Jade indeed learned. Despite these drawbacks, however, as a whole Oh My Goth is a fast, entertaining, and at times humorous story.
 
Young adult book reviews for ages 12 and up - middle school and high school students

click here to browse children's board book reviews
click here to browse children's picture book reviews
click here to browse young readers book reviews
click here to browse young readers book reviews
click here to browse young adult book reviews
click here to browse parenting book reviews
 
web reviews
  Jilian Vallade/2006 for curled up with a good kid's book  






For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews,
visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)