Book Review: Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Release Date: January 12, 2009
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 288
Received From: Author & Publicist (Thank you again!)

Summary: Looking for a new beginning after a terrible mean girl past, Charlie Healey realizes there’s no escaping high school drama. Charlie Healey thinks Harmony Falls is the beginning of a whole new life. Middle school was brutal. But high school is Charlie’s big chance to start over and stay out of drama, except that on her first day she runs into Will, her ex–best friend, who had moved away. Now a varsity athlete and hotter than Charlie remembered, Will hangs with the crowd running the school. But Charlie doesn’t understand their power until an innocent delivery guy falls victim to a near-deadly hazing prank. Torn between doing what’s right and her secret feelings for Will, Charlie must decide whether to turn in her very best friend or live with the guilt of knowing what he did.

My Review: After reading Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials, Rosalind has made my favorite debut YA author list. Her first young adult book was beautifully written. Her teenage tone was spot on and the fluidity of the story was addictive. The sense of humor throughout the chapters put a smile on my face and I caught myself giggling at times. A lot of YA books are about mean girls in high school but, Rosalind presented the total opposite. She introduced boys going through the same cycle of acceptance and how far they're willing to go to achieve it. The main character Charlie, which is short for Charlotte, had a rough time in middle school. Her group of girlfriends were popular, stuck up, mean girls that used Charlie as their toy of entertainment. Charlie's experience in high school was different compared to her previous years. She succeeded in befriending loyal girlfriends but found out that the boys lacrosse team was bad news. It consisted of jerks who were willing to put freshmen players through hell. Charlie came across some information that can put an end to this bullying or will she ignore it like everyone else? Read the book and you'll find out! I enjoyed the ending but I wanted more! I hope their will be a sequel because I learned to care for these characters and I want to see the rest of their high school years. Great debut from Rosalind and I can't wait to read her future projects!
My Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Author's Info:


Rosalind Wiseman is the New York Times bestselling author of Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends & Other Realities of Adolescence, which inspired the movie Mean Girls, co-written with Tina Fey. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two sons.