'Rhymes with Witches'

By Kelsi P.

Rhymes with Witches is a mystery and thriller written by Lauren Myracle. Some of her well known novels consists of Kissing Kate, Shine and Let it Snow. Rhymes with Witches was nominated for “Best Books for Young Adults” by the American Library Association and was also included in Anita Silvey’s “500 Great Books for Teens”. In the captivating novel Rhymes with Witches  she writes about a freshmen in high school named Jane. She describes Jane as a young and shy girl who keeps to herself, with very little friends. Like the majority of her peers, she admires the most popular group of girls in the whole school. The group consists of Keisha, the senior, Bitsy, the junior, and Mary Bryan, the sophomore. Although it was rumored that the girls were looking for their final member of their clique, a freshmen, Jane would have never have guessed they would show any interest in her. 

 

As the book progresses, Keisha, Bitsy and Mary Bryan all begin approaching her and being extra friendly until she is finally asked to attend a party with them at Kyle Kelley’s house. Being the shy girl that she is, she finds it hard to socialize with her popular peers. As weeks and weeks go by after she is finally  included in the group, people begin giving her special treatment, giving her presents, complimenting her and people that have never even noticed her are acting like her best friend. There is only one catch; each week she must steal something from one of her classmates and bring it to Lurl the Pearls office. The girls explain to her that in order for her to maintain her high social status she must take someones popularity and gain it through giving the item to Lurl. Even though Jane loves the sudden fame she achieves once she begins hanging out with Keisha, Bitsy and Mary Bryan but she struggles with what is right and what is against her self morals.

The book was very well written. Many of the details Lauren Myracle gives to express the facial expressions and tones the girls give to one another are vivid and easy to imagine. The plot was great and very mysterious, keeping you captivated on every page wanting to know what type of witchcraft or sorcery is behind their suspicious power to popularity. In the end, many things tie together nicely, allowing you to fully understand reasons behind the crazy antics that occur throughout the novel.

Although the book was very good overall there were a few things that did not quite sit well with me. The beginning was slow and presented a lot of information that was not very important to the plot in hindsight. Also, the end felt very rushed to me and many questions I had about the plot were not answered. Towards the end of the book, Jane is more confident and stands up for herself if she does not like what is going on but when a situation happens that changes everything, she is the exact opposite and goes against what the reader is lead to believe about her character.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book especially to girls in high school because many people can relate to Jane’s character and the whole high school experience. I do not read as much as I should because I am not a huge fan of it, but Rhymes with Witches kept me intrigued page by page. Any reader looking for book on social statuses, high school, drama and mystery would also find this novel as captivating as I did. You can find Rhymes with Witches by Lauren Myracle at your local library, on iTunes and amazon.