The Queen Bee of Bridgeton

This is an amazingly well written novel in a similar vein as the movie Step-Up and will probably be just as well-loved by young adults. It involves a young girl who loves to dance but doesn't have the means to achieve that dream. Yet she does through extreme hard work. However, as we all know, hard work at a young age is rarely recognized by one's peers, especially when those peers are rich witches. Add on to all this the incredibly nasty, unlikeable sister and a hot yet messed up boyfriend and you have a recipe for a great, short read that teens will love. This is the kind of juicy stuff that actually does happen in teenage years and things don't always turn out for the best and everything becomes flowery and perfect. This novel is raw show more and gritty. I loved it! show less

Sonya is a poor black girl from Venton Heights, a low class and dangerous neighborhood. Yet both she and her sister, Sasha have huge dreams of getting out. Sasha through Princeton and Sonya through dance. Sonya is a Prima Ballerina in the making and she has busted her ass since she was five to become the type of dancer that does it for love rather than fame or money.

Both girls were fortunate in being accepted into the prestigious Bridgeton Academy, Sasha on a Academic scholarship and Sonya on an Arts one. Whereas Sasha works so hard to be perfect in grades and fit in with others Sonya remains a loner, on the outskirts and very much invisible.

That is until she meets Will, the star basketball player with the sad eyes. They start off as show more friends and work themselves into a relationship, eventually falling in love. Ah, but the prissy girls of Bridgeton are not fond of this relationship as they believe that Will should remain with their "kind" and not slum it. They go out of their way to break them up and destroy Sonya's life.

The author Leslie DuBois, who was kind enough to select me for this story as well as for Guardian of Eden, once again blew me away with her ability to tell a story and keep you hooked until the end. She's an author who selects the genre of interracial romance and does a fabulous job of showing us the struggles while at times forgetting the race differences. I found that theme very strong in this novel. Sonya is black and Will is white, but when you read about her dance or his basketball skills you forget there is a difference. When you read the parts with them together the color of the skin fades so dramatically that you just forget.

Then she is also very good at drawing the back into the strength of the story. The racist undertones of the secondary characters is sadly a true statement of today's times. Although race is not suppose to factor into any one's judgement of another it still makes a huge difference to some people. Ms. DuBois does a remarkable job of playing this out without making it seem like a soapbox. I commend her for taking on a genre that many writers are afraid to write about, for fear of the retaliation from either side of the fence.

I loved the twists at the end and sweet revenge that is played out. Most assuredly a book for all ages and races. show less

I’m having a better run of realistic YA novels rather than the paranormal/sci-fi/dystopic ones. I haven’t found an utterly fantastic one yet, but I’ve liked the realistic ones a lot more.

So, obviously, I did enjoy this. The premise did have me worried at first, as I’m really not a fan of books where girls are set up to be bitchy to one another for no good reasons (which is another thing I think is just bad behavior to promote in general), but this was slightly better than I was expecting it to be. I liked the detail that Sonya isn’t willing to stoop down to the Bitch Brigade’s level and throw out catty comments. And when she does, Sonya’s extremely reluctant to do so and feels uncomfortable with it. I really like that she show more feels like she shouldn’t have to resort to bitchy remarks to take down these girls. We need more of this behavior in YA.

I also really like how so much of the book is hinged on Sonya’s identity. She doesn’t really quite fit into Venton Heights or Bridgeton Academy, but she doesn’t feel like she needs to stand out in either place. And we get this strong love that Sonya has for dancing in her narration, and how it’s definitely the place where she feels like she belongs. I really liked this aspect of her; it makes Sonya more realistic. And I liked the uncertainity she has in her school, that she knows that she’s not on the automatic path to a good school. Not to mention, again, Sonya’s willing to do the right thing, even if she doesn’t want praise for it. She’s willing to help two girls she doesn’t even know in order to spare them from embarrassment. It’s another layer of realism that adds to her character.

Also, there’s a good discussion on race that doesn’t verge on preachy. It’s set up very early on that Sonya and her sister Sasha have to get themselves out of the ghetto, as they can see what the alternate is. Sonya is a lot more believable in that she does feel very out of place in Venton Heights, but she’s not actively trying to act white or be better than anyone else. She’s just a girl who’s a bit out of step. And while there’s not a huge treatise on how Sonya and Sasha are treated at school, it is definitely discussed, albeit briefly. I don’t think it’s given the full weight of a race discussion, but it’s given enough credit to add to the story.

I would have liked to have seen the racial discussion brought up in the relationship between Will and Sonya, as it’s given a brief two-second mention and then dropped. That said though, I do like this relationship. First off, it’s a little funny to see Will try to pull the Edward Cullen method of romance by stalking Sonya…who’s then a little freaked out and mad that Will would try that. It does illustrate will’s rich kid lifestyle, and the idea that he has to deal with someone who won’t respond to his every whim. And outside of the romance, I like the fact that Will and Sonya feel like they could just be friends, with no romantic obligations. I would have liked to have seen more with Will’s darker side, as it gets frequently mentioned but then unceremoniously dropped until it’s needed again.

While I do like the set-up and the reasons behind Sonya trying to make good, the revenge scheme and the revelation behind the Bitch Brigade are the weakest parts of this, mostly due to Sasha. Early on, it feels like Sonya and Sasha have a very sisterly relationship—bickering, but they care about each other and want the other to succeed. Then, as the Brigade tries to threaten Sonya, Sasha continues to push her sister into becoming one of the mean girls. And then it’s revealed that Sasha is behind the Bitch Brigade, culminating in a fairly out of character villain speech and Sasha leaving the house because she has nothing left to reach for. There’s some hints as to Sasha being more involved than she let on, but the revelation and her sudden change in character comes out of nowhere. It’s explained away as “Well, she was just being manipulative the whole time!” but I don’t really buy it.

Additionally, the pacing of the book is very rushed. The first half is decent, with Sonya and her growing romance with Will, but once the revenge scheme starts, everything happens so fast with little time to process what’s happening. Not to mention, the last chapter feels like all of the events are just arbitrarily tacked on to set up the next book. I feel like there could have been more of an ending, and drawing out everything that happens to Sonya in the last two chapters, instead of cramming everything in a few paragraphs.

Even still, I did like this book. It’s not a must-read, but it’s worth checking out if you need a quick read on your ereader of choice. show less

I found the story to be cute, if not believable. I liked alot of the issues the author tried to tackle.

But I never liked Will. He felt very stalker and very 'stranger danger'. his knowledge of her schedule and pre-history was just...creepy.
and their 'instalove' didn't feel real at all.

but I liked the twist and the story was pretty good.

On commencing this book I assumed that it was a lovely story about a young girl chasing her ballet dreams. I was amazed at the complexity not only about this girl chasing her dream but her relationships with friends & family. She learns to allow her strengths to outshine her weaknesses. She also battles prejudice and poverty and all of the normal teens issues and comes out with shinning colors. Awesome book!

I absolutely loved this book! It was a refreshing and beautiful read. I previously read Priscilla the Great and loved it, so I had high expectations for The Queen Bee of Bridgeton. I caught myself laughing out loud, crying, and in shock of the twists and turns in the story.

Sonya Garrison’s life is on repeat with dance, school, dance, and more dance. Her dream is to be the next big ballerina and she works so hard at that dream and is afraid of any distractions. Especially dangerous distractions in her neighborhood of Venton Heights. Although Sonya loves to dance, she feels as if she’s failing in comparison to her brilliant sister Sasha. To her, things for Sasha seem to always run smoothly.

Sonya has heard a rumor around school, that show more for generations, The Queen Bee title has been passed down behind the scenes at Bridgeton Academy. Never did she think it would be true until she catches the eye of the star, white basketball player, Will Maddox. Will is weird and creepily honest with Sonya and first, but when Sonya gives him a chance she ends up falling in love with Will.

To be honest, I expected the novel to be more about Sonya learning to overcome a racial relationship issue. The best part about this story was that Sonya just wanted a place to belong and NOT to Venton Heights’ dangerous schemes and deals around the streets. She knows she doesn’t belong there and just wants to make it out alive.

I really enjoyed Sonya’s character and personality. She was funny, kind, beautiful, hard-working, and smart and she just gets better after falling for Will. This story has so many heart-wrenching, good and bad, situations and I was constantly hoping for all to work out and rooting for Sonya. Not to mention I was constantly on edge, because of the insane drama going down with The (psycho) Queen Bees at school!

Overall this story was perfect. A fantastic novel about finding a place and how love, no matter who it is with, can change your life. Leslie DuBois’s writing was crisp and clear and hooked me from the beginning. I recommend this novel to anyone and I guarantee you won’t be sorry you picked it up! show less

I received a copy of The Queen Bee of Bridgeton though a librarything.com giveaway in exchange for a review and was pleasantly surprised. I was interested from the book description but assumed it would be in the same vein of other angsty young adult books set in High School. This was not the case. The characters in this book deal with real and difficult issues. The main character Sonya is mature, loyal and goal oriented 16 yr old. Sonya and her sister long to escape the world they have grown up in and will do any thing to succeed in life. Sonya's way out is though dance at which she excels. Her dream she has worked for since she was eight is put in jeopardy when the ruling girls in her private high school attempt to to bring her down. I show more couldn't put this book down once i picked it up and cant wait to read more from this author. show less