The Popular Girls Club (1972) by Phyllis Krasilovsky

This is one of those books where the narrator remains nameless. This book is about a girl whose friends mysteriously stop speaking to her and exclude her from their new club.

It's not as though other girls don't try to befriend her. A nerdy girl named Clara invites her over to make leaf placemats, but the narrator is worried that she'll never get into the club if she hangs out with "Dr. Cyclops." The protagonist's own prejudices are apparent pretty early on.

Also, she bonds with a very shy girl named Amy over cookies in the cafeteria. But when Amy works up the courage to invite the protag home to help bake some, she turns her down. The girl bemoans the loss of her friends, even though she has to admit they could be mean and shallow at times. She tries to contact her best friend of the group, Rosemary, but the group is always together and make fun of her when she tries to ask why they are acting this way.

Look at that groovy room! The illustrations really add to the story, even though the way the book is set up is a little young for the intended audience. Anyway, the girl reflects on how other girls were jealous of her group of friends and worries that she really does smell like they are now saying. We learn that the girls didn't like anyone to be too different from them because "it would be like planting a cactus in the middle of a row of tulips." All the girls belonged to the same church and wouldn't think of inviting the two black kids at school along. Her parents begin to get worried about her and buy her a kitten to keep her company. Then the popular girls plan a Halloween party and of course, don't invite the protagonist. It's especially hurtful not to get an invitation because it's the first boy/girl party the group has had. The protagonist meets up with Amy on Halloween and the two see that the party really isn't all that it was cracked up to be. The girl finally relents and becomes friends with both Amy and Clara. Rosemary calls to apologize and the Popular Girls Club (they don't actually call themselves that) breaks up. We never really find out why they were so cruel to her, except that one of the girls might have been out to take her best friend.

I've been thinking about writing Amazon reviews instead of this blog so more people will see it and because most of the reviews of old books over there are like, "I was 8 when I read this book," and don't actually tell anything about the book. Or maybe I will do both. Until next time...