Sally Sorenson is a 15 year old Midwestern girl who has just returned home from her summer vacation on the west coast. She's excited to see her best friend Sue and tell her all about it, as well as see Sue's older brother, Whit, who she has a crush on.
While she was gone some things have changed. Someone has bought the house three doors down and a glamorous 15 year old named Lenore Andre now lives there. A girl names Jonni who has an Italian haircut has also moved into what is called the crackerbox subdivision. The biggest change though is that the boundary lines for the schools have changed to accommodate for a new high school and so Sally will be starting her sophomore year at a different school. Unfortunately this means that she and Sue will no longer attend school together. Although Sally is not happy about this she doesn't complain since there's nothing she can do to change it.
On the first day of school Sally is walking with her friend Myron when Lenore and her mother, who wears her blonde hair in elaborate hairdos, drive by in their eye-catching white convertible. They stop but then quickly drive on. At lunch Lenore seeks Sally out, saying her and her mother had debated offering Sally a ride that morning but figured she would probably want to walk with Myron. The two get along well and it's clear they'll be friends. Sally also has a class with Jonni and at the end of the day is invited over to her house. However she refuses as she's eager to see Sue and tell her all about her first day.
After school she walks straight over to Sue's and waits at the bus stop but when Sue doesn't show up she heads home, leaving a message with Sue's mother to have her call. When she doesn't call, Sally calls her and Sue quickly goes into a frenzy talking about the well-to-do Ann Aisley who's house she was invited to after school.
As the school year goes on Sally and Sue see less and less of each other, mainly because Sue has been obsessed with Ann Aisley. Lenore and Sally have become close friends but Lenore is still something of an enigma. Her mothers hands-off parenting, the way she doesn't even glimpse at price tags while shopping, and her fathers "employees" who slip in and out of the carriage house at all hours of the day shroud the Andres family in mystery. Sally also becomes close with Jonni and when she visits her house she finds it to be filled with books, a grand piano, and an oil painting Jonni had sat for, all of which change Sally's opinion of her as a "crackerbox kid".
While at a football game between the new school, Hadley West, and the old school, Hadley East, Sally is introduced to Jonni's friend Judd, a nice boy who develops a mutual crush on Sally. The football team for the old school is on a winning streak and plan on winning the championship. The new schools team has been on a losing streak so it's a big surprise when they beat Hadley East. Hadley East then ends up losing their next and final game costing them the championship. They take their anger out on Hadley West by vandalizing it with red paint.
Unfortunately Judd gets blames for the vandalism and due to him being a crackerbox kid, i.e. poor, people are willing to believe it. However at the time of the incident Lucia, Sally's 9 year old sister, had been at the school and heard enough to place Sue's brother Whit at the scene. Lucia confides this to Sally who doesn't know what to do with this uncomfortable information.
(This is where I took a month break from reading)
She decides to tell Sue in the hopes that she'll pass it along to Whit so he can clear himself. But Sue refuses to believe it and gets mad, ending her friendship with Sally. Sally, not knowing what else to do, tells her father but excludes any names. However she knows her father will be able to figure it out and several days later she reads an article in the newspaper saying the culprits have been questioned and confessed.
As the first quarter of school ends Sally realizes just how much her grades have slipped due to her friendship with Lenore. Lenore does not care about grades and always pressures Sally to blow off homework and studying to hang out. When Sally questions Lenore about her future in college Lenore dismisses it saying her father can pay her way into a school or suggesting that she might marry one of her fathers employees when she soon turns 16.
Myron ends up joining the basketball team at Sally's urging and becomes the star player. When Sally attends an away game at her old school she runs into Sue, Whit, and Ann Aisley. Sue coldly says "Hi" but Whit is quite friendly, especially towards Lenore. After the game he tells the girls he won some money betting on it and asks if they want to help him spend it. Both are put off by this and Sally worries that Whit will end up in more trouble before he learns to reel in his behavior.
Sometime later Lenore misses a day of school and when Sally arrives home she sees an article on the front page of the newspaper about Lenore's father being arrested for hosting illegal gambling in the carriage house. The article mentions some teenage boys that helped provide the police with information to make the raid and arrest. Whit immediately comes to Sally's mind so she calls Sue who confirms that Whit was working with the police on it. Sue seems completely heartless over how this will affect Lenore and even refers to her only as "the convertible girl" which really puts Sally off. Although Sue is being friendly again and wants to make plans to catch up Sally feels disappointed and lacks any enthusiasm about the rekindling of their friendship.
She calls Jonni who feels terrible for Lenore and worries she'll think they don't want to be friends with her anymore. Sally calls Lenore who is surprised Sally still wants to associate with her and coaxes her to return to school. With her friends help Lenore tries to go on as usual with life and spends extra time focusing on her studies. Then one day she shows up at Sally's door in a traveling suit and informs Sally her family is moving and she'll be attending boarding school. Sally is really sad to see her go as she feels closer to Lenore than any other friend she's had before, including Sue, but she is happy for Lenore who is excited about the change.
After Lenore's departure Sally finds herself in an awkward position at school as some people don't want to associate with her because of her friendship with Lenore. Sally doesn't mind too much tho and at Jonni's insistence she joins the Girls Club which she finds a lot of joy in. She remains close friends with Jonni, Myron, and Judd, and her friendship with Sue is once again back in tact. She also finds herself less nervous around Whit and can converse with him normally. We end with Sally life looking normal and happy.
- One thing that makes this book feel different from all the other girls books from this time is that our main character is not self conscious of her appearance, her social standing, or social skills. Sally likes how she looks and is confident. She doesn't stress over having to make new friends at a new school or feel intimidated by Lenore's beauty. It's honestly so refreshing in a character.
- On page 51 Sally is accidentally called Sue; "Lenore had not mentioned anything about a ride tomorrow, Sue thought guiltily to herself."
- It's funny when Sue accuses Sally of only saying Whit vandalized the school because she has a crush on Judd and wants to get him out of trouble. Little does Sue know Sally has been head over heels for Whit for years.
- Whenever Lenore gives Sally a gift her mother makes her return it because it is too expensive. She even clearly wants Sally to return the Christmas present Lenore bought her because she thinks it's too expensive. I think this is a little mean because it puts Sally in such an awkward position. Returning a gift appears so rude and insulting. I understand her mother is worried about the money spent of the gifts but Lenore family is clearly wealthy so I don't know why she gets so upset.
- Sally tells Lenore that more boys would like her if she didn't wear "weird-o" eye makeup and bleach her hair. I thought this was really rude and uncalled for. Lenore is already extremely popular so I don't know why Sally thinks she needs to give her advice. Lenore feels insulted and I can totally understand why.
Overall this book is ok. There's something about it that separates it from the typical teenage book of the era. Sally a likable character and so is Lenore although I feel like we could have gotten to know both much better.
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