The Pretty Committee Strikes Back (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
After Alicia’s sassy cousin Nina, who stole everyone’s heart, was proven for the devious thief she really was, Massie expected all to adore her once again. Yet, she overhears some of her fans planning to get in touch with Nina for some boy advice. Massie can’t have her admirers thinking she hasn’t any experience with boys, so she starts “Massie’s Underground Clinic for Kissing (M.U.C.K.) even though she’s never kissed a boy herself. The Pretty Committee (Massie, Alicia, Claire, Dylan) with the exception of Kristen, who couldn’t afford it, are off to Lake Placid for their school trip. Massie hopes to get some real experience there. Massie rides with Derrington on the bus, but fakes motion sickness so she won’t have to talk to him. She always gets nervous and embarrassed when she’s around him. When Derrington tells the M.U.C.K. girls that they’ve never kissed they feel taken advantage of and cheated. Massie cooks a plan with Claire that lets the M.U.C.K. girl s catch her and Derrington kissing to prove them wrong. Cam is still upset about Claire and her kiss with Josh, but then Massie comes up with a plan for Claire to go to Cam’s cabin, in disguise as a boy, to fix things. Claire tells him that she didn’t know he was avoiding her because of Alicia’s fake Spanish soccer spell and that she thought he dumped her, so they promise to meet each other the next day to kiss (Cam’s first time.) Claire thinks Alicia, who has a crush on Josh, overhear that she kissed him. They cannot talk that day as if it were their wedding day, so when Massie’s plan for the M.U.C.K. girls to catch her and Derrington kissing interferes with her meeting with Cam she asks Alicia to give him her note saying she’ll be late. When Claire arrives she finds Alicia flirting with Cam in revenge for Claire kissing Josh. Claire is heartbroken. Massie suggests Cam dresses as a girl and apologizes to Claire for he had never gotten Claire’s note and had felt betrayed. They kiss. A pair of Claire’s underwear is found outdoors, but instead of telling them that Layne, who borrowed them, did she blames it on Alicia for revenge. Everyone believes it because she really had taken some Claire offered and they tease her. All the girls run out, but then Dylan catches her famous TV show host mom snuggling up with her geography teacher. She is so upset she reveals that Kristen is on the trip and hands her breakfast under Massie’s bed where she’s hiding. Dylan runs out, Kristen runs out, and then Massie, Alicia, and Claire run to their friends to support them. They end up lost and have to sit still for hours so a mysterious creature won’t hurt them until Claire shoos it away with a gummy worm. Soon, they finally meet up with Mr. Myner, their geo teacher, and Dylan’s mom. Everyone is horrified when the Pretty Committee is expelled. tI found the girl’s tactics to get their crushes unique and fun. The camping trip was so planned out and vividly described that I felt as if I were experiencing it with the girls, too. I was also surprised that Kristen came, and loved that all was right with Derrington and Massie and Cam and Claire in the end. I can’t believe that they were expelled though since there are usually happy endings in this series.
The Pretty Committee can't wait to go to their fieldtrip to Lake Placid. Massie, Alicia, Kristen, Dylan, and Claire have been spending the last 4 days packing their finest True Religion jeans and their best DKNY coats just to impress their crushes at the fieldtrip. Things spice up when Massie kisses Derrington and the M.U.C.K girls find out Massie really had kissed someone before and start begging her forgiveness. Everyone starts dying to see what will happen with the cute little couple. When I look for a good book I seek for good word choice or imagery but that is something I decided not to pay attention to this time. In result, I found a simple but very entertaining book. Thinking about these reasons, it was hard to discover what made this book so good until I got to many conclusions. One of the things that made this book so outstanding is the author's ability to make everything sound exceptionally realistic due to a great and complete plot that follows the story all along. The events in this story really catch your eye since they are out of the usual for middle school girls. One quote that really shows the personality of the Clique girls is " Massie fished through her pink Coach makeup bag. She had to touch up her eyeliner and didn't want the boys to see."(Harrison, 79). This expresses how materialist and self-centered the Pretty Committee is. Another reason why this book is amazing, is its high interest level which really hooks you to the story. I love the author of this book due to her themes and experiences shared during every novel. If you like a story in which things spice up and engage you to reading, pick Lisi Harrison's novels! Lisi Harrison
What do You think about The Pretty Committee Strikes Back (2006)?
In the book, the girls were going to a trip with the school. They had a meeting on what to pack and bring. On the trip, the girls run off trail and get into a lot of trouble. The book had well developed characters and well developed scenes. What makes this different than the Gossip Girl series is that this tries to develop the scenes more. That way even though you can't relate to them you can imagine what they're going through which is really the main point. The reason this book gets a three is because the topic was a little cheesy. It was about the boys and how Massie wanted to save her reputation with Derrick. However, the way this scene plays out was a little unrealistic. If the book had taken place with more places they went on the trip like hiking, cooking, marshmallows, camp fires, it would have been at least a four. The author had grazed upon these events really dragging the story's plot line a little too far. Once it was dragged out there was really no going back so the story kind of played out of the context and plot line. At a few points in the book what the girls were doing was a little unclear because it wasn't explained as much as I felt it should have been. Overall, the book was good. It was a little far fetched but it was good in the long run. It kept my attention and made me want to read more even though I could relate with none of the experiences.
—Lia
The book opens with Massie and the rest of the Pretty Committee in geography class at OCD. Mr. Myner, the eccentric teacher, is blabbering on about topography, a topic that captures the interests of few. Massie zones out, and starts thinking about Derrick Harrington, the alpha and popular star goalie for the Tomahawks, the Briarwood Academy soccer team. But when Mr. Myners mentions the upcoming trip to Lake Placid, everyone's attention is now in his hands. Despite his attempts to say that they will be "hunting for education" it's the exact opposite, hunting for boys. It's after class, when Kristen, who is rather poor, confesses she can't go on the trip for financial purposes, and that she'll stay behind and shop at the President's Weekend Sales. Hastily, Dylan, Alicia, and Massie offer to pay, but Kristen still does not accept the offer. Massie then offers to have a packing party the night before the trip, to which, of course, everyone says yes. Kristen, now feeling left out, decides she will try to raise the money to be able to go on the trip. Massie offers to help her with her plan, but when Kristen says she can, it turns out her offer was as fake as Olivia's nose. Later, in the Block's Range Rover, Massie decides to help Kristen with her scheme and open MUCK - Massie's Underground Clinic for Kissing. But what would happen if her "students" found out about her inexperience with kissing? In the end, Massie gets her first real kiss from Derrington (with the MUCK girls watching), and Claire gets a kiss from Cam (because her first kiss with Cam was not in the fourth book). Although all of the Pretty Committee gets expelled at the end for going in the woods after they were told not to. They were also expelled because Kristen, who snuck up to the camp to be with the Pretty Committee got caught. They wandered into one of the trails alone to hide from Mr.Myner and they get lost. While Kristen was begging Mr.Myner to not expell her, Derrington handed Massie some wild flowers, she smelled them then announced to her public that they have been expelled.
—Alexa
i thought that this book was a great book. this book is about three girls that go on a field trip and try to get some boys. there Kirsten is not allowed to go becuase her parents cant afford it and her friends are willing to pay but she doesnt want them to. when Massie, Alicia, Dylan and Claire go to the fild trip all Massie wants to do is regain her status and kiss Derrington. everyone has to give up their cell phones all clothes except three pairs and no food. during thier first hike they have to use a map were they hike their way to food. Claire gets stuck with her (ex)boyfriend but she want him back but not so sure he does. during the camp fire Claire and Massie sneak out and get go into the teachers igloo and Claire has to teach massie to kiss or her reputation will dissaperar. the girls come at last and she teaches them. derringotn tells all of the girls they never kissed. cliare sneaks in to the boys cabin and tells cam. cam is supposed to kisss claire and he does. alicia gets claire back by kissing him but her appologizes and their back together. Dylan catckes her mom hooking up with the ss teacher and they run away in the woods. they got expelled from school.
—Julia Liu
