Rhymes with Witches

What if the ruling teen queens at your school really were, well, witches? And not the Glinda the Good kind, either. Lauren Myracle assumes this sinister premise in the darkly humorous Rhymes with Witches. High school freshman Jane is more than plain -- she’s practically invisible. And she longs for nothing more than to join the ranks of the Bitches, the top female echelon at school. But the Bitches are selective, and only one girl from each class is chosen to rule supreme. So Jane is puzzled but ecstatic when the Bitches name her their freshman successor. Soon she is being worshipped by all kinds of beautiful people who didn’t even know her name last week. But as Jane soon realizes, it isn’t easy being a Bitch. She is informed by her new "sisters" that there are certain sacrifices to be made -- sacrifices that could wreck high school havoc and ruin lives. Is Jane willing to do anything to stay on the top of the popularity heap? Or will she risk it all to save innocent others from the clutching claws of the Bitches? Part I Know What You Did Last Summer and part Heathers, Rhymes with Witches builds slowly, but the incredibly creepy climax will leave many female readers glancing nervously over their shoulders at the so-called popular set. Meow! (Ages 12 and up) --Jennifer Hubert