The Clique is an American young adult novel series written by Lisi Harrison and was originally published by Little, Brown and Company

Little, Brown and Company

Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...

, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group

Hachette Livre

-France:*Calmann-Lévy*Deux Coqs d'Or*Disney Hachette Edition*EDICEF*Editions 1*Editions du Chêne**E.P.A*Éditions Dunod*Editions Foucher*Editions Stock*Fayard**Editions Mille et Une Nuits**Editions Mazarine**Pauvert*Gautier-Languereau*Grasset...

, but got reprinted by Poppy books. The series revolves around four girls. Massie Block, Alicia Rivera, Dylan Marvil, and Kristen Gregory collectively make up The Pretty Committee, an 'A-Lister' clique at the fictional, all girls middle school, Octavian Country Day, or as Massie likes to call it, OCD. Claire Lyons is a misfit girl from Orlando, Florida. She shops at stores like Wal-mart and Target and has no clue what life in Westchester is like and what is expected of her there. Massie is the head of the clique, dressed in Juicy Couture, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo etc. while Claire, a newcomer to the area, is initially considered an outcast due to her financial and fashion status. She is also not welcomed at first because of her attitude, which is that she assumes since she is living in Massie's guest house she should be Massie's friend and a member of the Pretty Committee. As the series progresses, she slowly develops a friendship with Massie, realizing that she must earn her friendship, and eventually becomes a member of the group. She soon finds out though, life in The Pretty Committee isn't all unicorns and gold....

The first novel, The Clique, was released on May 19, 2004. As of August 2010, 13 novels have been released in the main series. On October 4, 2006, a box set called "The Clique Collection" was released containing the first three novels of the series. A second set was released in November 2006 containing books four through six. From April to August 2008, five novella

Novella

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

s named after the five main characters were published in a subseries called "The Clique Summer Collection." The novellas focus on each titular characters' activities during the summer between their seventh and eighth grades in school. Harrison composed a guide to the series' "teen speak" terminology and trivia, Cliquetionary, which was released on November 16, 2009. It was announced on Lisi Harrison's website that the fourteenth book (which will be released February 15, 2011) would mark the end of the series.

In 2007, Warner Brothers announced that it had partnered with publisher Alloy Entertainment

Alloy Entertainment

Alloy Entertainment is a book-packaging division of the Alloy Media + Marketing company—an American provider of media programs. Alloy is a leading producer of "chick lit"-style novels created for teenage and young adult audiences...

 to create a series of direct-to-DVD films based on the books. A film

The Clique (film)

The Clique is a direct-to-DVD film based on the popular teen novel series by author Lisi Harrison. The film is produced by Alloy Entertainment, released through Tyra Banks' company Bankable Productions and is a production of Warner Premiere with Tyra Banks as executive producer. Filming began in...

, based on the first novel The Clique, was released on November 18, 2008. The novels are being adapted into a series of graphic novel

Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

s by Yen Press

Yen Press

Yen Press is the manga and graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group. In addition to their regular book releases, Yen Press produces a monthly anthology called Yen Plus. The company's varied list demonstrates an interest in publishing a wide variety of Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and other...

, with the first volume due for release July 2010.

History

Entertainment, the book-packaging

Book-packaging

Book-packaging is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a book—writing, researching, editing, illustrating, and even printing—to an outside company called a book-packaging company...

 subdivision of Alloy Online which focuses on the young adult

Young adult literature

Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

 market, conceived the stories for its novel series, then is responsible for hiring writers and editing the novels they produced. They approached Lisi Harrison, who was working as a writer for MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

, about producing a series of young adult novels. She said of this proposal, "Always being a closeted wannabe author - I jumped at the opportunity. I loved the idea." Alloy's involvement in the process of writing varies from series to series; Harrison said that in her case they functioned as a sounding board, but otherwise, "they left me to my own devices. It's very much my book." The end result was the first novel in the series, The Clique, which was published in May 2004 by Little, Brown and Company

Little, Brown and Company

Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...

.

Characters

• Massie Block is known as the alpha (leader) and founder of her 'Clique', The Pretty Committee. This clique is at the head of the food chain they are popular and preppy at their prestigious all girls' private school. She is very spoiled (her dad is a successful business man) and is sometimes very stuck up, but she has a vulnerable side that reveals itself to the reader when she is under pressure. Massie never lets on to anyone that she sometimes isn't as confident as she appears. She's known for her wardrobe (designer labels), her quick wit and humor, and her desire to shine above everyone. She is described with having amber eyes and shiny, brown hair. Massie is jealous of Alicia's natural beauty. She is also jealous of the way Claire Lyons can be herself, Where Massie is constantly under the watchful eyes Of The Rest of the Girls that attend OCD.

• Alicia Rivera is Massie's "beta" (second-in-command) in the Pretty Committee , but her personality doesn't quite shine like Massie's does. Alicia is also a major gossip. Alicia is also known for her wardrobe (heavily influenced by Ralph Lauren), and for her exotic beauty (her mother is an internationally-known Spanish ex-model). Alicia's long, shiny, dark hair and big brown eyes (with curly lashes) make her a hit among the Briarwood Boys, along with her C-cups. Alicia just can't seem to be an alpha, because Massie beats her at almost everything. She is called "Fannish" meaning "Fake Spanish" in "Revenge of the Wannabes" by Massie and the rest of the group, with the exception of Claire, who mourns her lost friend during fights.

• Dylan Marvil: is the Pretty Committee's source to the showbiz world, for her mother is famous talk show host Merri-Lee Marvil for a television show called The Daily Grind. Dylan is bubbly and talkative. Dylan talks about her weight a lot. Her trademarks are her fiery red hair, her brightly colored style, and her obsession with her weight, even though she is average weight. (She has tried various fad diets, such as Atkins diet shakes, but does not stick to any of them for very long, she loves to eat). Dylan has two sisters, Ryan and Jaime who are mentioned, but never really talked about until the last book of the series, where they star in the Marvilous Marvils reality show and fight over a boy named Hunter Templeton that they both like. Dylan soon finds out the fight was all a stage act by her mother.

• Kristen Gregory is an all-star soccer player at school. She is a bit of a tomboy but loves designer clothes. She hates that her mom "micromanages my minis" meaning mini-skirts. She can't afford them because before the inception of the series, her dad lost all his money. She hides that she is poor for three books. Kristen is highly intelligent, attending OCD on a full scholarship, until the book "The pretty Comittee strikes back" and she has been expelled.She is considered to be pretty with her long blond hair and aqua eyes. Her trademarks are playing word games, being athletic and avoiding being caught by her parents in the clothes she likes to wear behind their backs. In the Summer Books, it is revealed Kristin is the leader of The Witty Committee, and Anti-Pretty Committee group that strives upon intelligence and character. In the group they dress up as characters, and Kristen is none other than Albert Eistein since they all have to dress up as smart people in history. Several other children, including Layne Abeley are in the group, and Kristin is revealed to be "Secret Best Friends" with Layne. When Massie finds out, their friendship is temporarily ended, but Kristin regains Massie's approval with Alicia and Dylan at the end of "Boys R US."

• Claire Lyons moved from Orlando, Florida to Westchester, New York. Her dad was good friends with Massie's dad in business school, and the Lyons are living in Massie's guest house. Claire's family is not rich or successful like the other girls' families are, so she has a hard time fitting in at first, but eventually does. She becomes friends with Layne, known to the Pretty Committee as an LBR (Loser Beyond Repair). She and Massie are frienemies: sometimes sharing insecurities and laughs, at other times pitted against each other. Her trademark is her love of Keds,Gummies and her crush on Cam Fisher. Claire is described as having white-blonde hair and wide blue eyes, and also being skinnier than the rest of the group. She briefly leaves the Pretty Committee in favour of Two freshman Drama-Club Girls, Cara and Syd.

• “Cameron ‘Cam’ Fisher”: Described as having messy dark hair, bloodred lips, and mismatched eyes- one blue, one green- Cam originally appeared in the first novel as the boy who danced with Massie, though his name was not credited. He also made appearances in Best Friends for Never as the boy who saved Claire from her humiliation at the party, and then in Revenge of the Wannabes as Massie’s crush. However, by the fourth novel he and Claire are officially dating. They then break up again because Claire is manipulated into thinking he likes Alicia’s slutty cousin, Nina. They get back together after they share a first kiss in The Pretty Committee Strikes Back. He is described as sweet and sensitive. In Sealed with a Diss, he dumps Claire when she accuses him of being a cheater. He then dates Olivia Ryan, but is annoyed with her as she proves to be incredibly dumb and a bad mother to their Health assignment, a simulated baby named Kate, whom Claire is the stepmother of, and gets back with Claire. They stay together for the rest of the series, even throughout the upgrade.

• “Derrick ‘Derrington’ Harrington”: With dark blonde hair and a goofy smile, Derrick is Briarwood’s treasured goalie and is fought over at the beginning of the series by Kristen and Dylan. He then dates Massie up until Sealed with a Diss, where he says she is too immature (though Massie thinks the same of him.)They have their first kiss in the fifth book, where they go to Lake Placid and Massie has an underground Kissing Company called MUCK, though she's never kissed anyone. He is available up until P.S. I Loathe You, when he dates Dylan secretly. In These Boots Were Made for Stalking, she dumps him for Luke.

• “Joshua ‘Josh’ Hotz”: Appeared in Invasion of the Boy Snatchers as a new transfer student. He and Alicia dated briefly, even throughout the boy fast up until the upgrade. He and Alicia are finished after she begins to “semi-flirt” with Aidan, because she and Josh wear the same size clothes. He is described to look like Josh Hartnett, Love Jeter, and have a Raplh Lauren obsession.

• “Kemp Hurley”: Dylan’s crush in Sealed with a Diss who double-dumped her, and Kristen’s date to the winter dance.

• “Chris Plovert”: Dylan’s crush for most of the early books, the one who breaks up with her when he finds her too “manly.”

• “Harris Fisher”: Cam’s hotter older brother, who has TWO green eyes. Alicia crushes on him in the third book; until it is revealed he is not interested and gave her mixed signals.

• “Landon Crane”: Massie’s crush up until the last book. He is described as having sea green eyes, and messy black waves and was in ninth grade at the end of the series.

• “Miles”: Described as having shaggy blonde hair. He was a model at Massie’s benefit, but was not heard of again.

• “Aidan”: Alicia’s crush, who loves photography.

• “Scott”: DJ’d at the charity benefit. Tall with blonde hair and blue eyes.

• “Jackson”: Half buzzed; half ear-length hair vegetarian

• “Ace”: Described as having olive skin and being very hot.

• “Bean”: Massie’s fashion-forward black pug, who dates Bark Obama.

• “Bark Obama”: Landon’s black pug. Bean's date.

• “Celia Crane”: Landon’s pretty and graceful mother, who owns Bark Jacobs. She knows Marc Jacobs and is very close with her only son.

• “Kori Gedman”: On Kristen’s soccer team, and was her knockoff in the third book. She is described as having bad posture, blond hair that is always styled in either pigtails or braids, and light blue eyes. She lives in the Brickview Apartments like Kristen and due to many surgeries her mother looks like Michael Jackson, something she is often teased about.
• “Strawberry McAdams”: Has a bad temper. Gets her nickname from where she shops, and for her magenta-dyed hair. She looks a bit like Dylan for being big-boned. Her birthname is Coral.

• “Olivia Ryan.”: Described as having navy blue irises and buttery-blond waves. She is credited as a B-lister trapped in an A-lister’s body. She has an older brother Andy with a skating ramp, and an older sister. She briefly dates Cam Fisher. She and Chris Plovert also had a distant fling. Her dad is a surgeon and operates on her nose many times. She is also known as Alicia’s ditzy tagalong.

• “Skye Hamilton”: An eighth-grade alpha who offers the secret room to whoever first finds a special key. In the Kristen novella, she had a crush on Dune Baxter until she fell in a pool of Jell-O and got angry when he laughed at her. She then goes off to Alpha Academy. She loves animals, mini things, glitter pens, dancing and boys. She is described as having white-blonde waves, Tiffany box-blue irises, B-cups and looking like Taylor Swift. She is the leader of a group called the DSL Daters (they make super-fast connections with boys) and in the early books, had a crush on Chris Abeley. Her parents own the Body Alive Dance Studio, so she gets free clothes. Her mother is a retired ballet dancer named Natasha Flailenkoff from Russia, while her dad is just an American named Geoffrey. She is famous for the little charms she attaches to arm-sleeves.

• “William Block”: Massie's father. Is old friends with Claire’s father, Jay Lyons. He is described as being serious with a balding head. He is a major pushover as he falls for his daughter’s apologies many times.

• “Kendra Block”: Massie’s Pilates-toned mother, who is very dramatic and strict. She makes many efforts to keep peace in the household.

• “Todd Lyons”: Claire’s younger brother, who has curly red hair and is a major eavesdropper, and his excuse is that he has an "eavesdropping problem". Throughout the series he harbors a major crush on Massie, and has a first kiss with her.

• “Tiny Nathan”: He is Todd’s best friend, and is described as being small with a squeaky voice. He is also an eavesdropper

• “Nikki Dalton”: The girl Claire thought was “the other woman” in her and Cam’s relationship. However, she liked him when he didn’t like her back. She is described as having black hair and long bangs that cover her eyes.

• “Heather”: Best friends with Layne Abeley and Meena. She is described as being a major LBR.

• “Layne Abeley”: Witty and clever, Layne is Claire’s first true friend at OCD. She has narrow green eyes and frizzy dark hair. She has many food obsessions and briefly dates Eli. Her brother is Chris Abeley.

• “Chris Abeley”: Layne’s older brother, who is described as cute with blue eyes and blonde hair. Massie used to like him but then she found out he had a girlfriend, Fawn, who dumped him later on.

• “Fawn”: Chris Abeley’s girlfriend until Sealed with a Diss, described as being gorgeous with blonde hair and a tiny waist. She dumps him after starting a vicious rumor that he loves his horse, Tricky.

• “Tristan”: Eli’s best friend, described as being punk. He dances with Claire at the Halloweenie party.

• “Jakkob”: Massie’s trusted and fashionable stylist.

• Brownie: Massie's beloved horse.

• “Hadley Durk”: The celebrity originally cast for Dial L for Loser. She is replaced by Claire after having a fight with Abby Boyd after she steals two of her boyfriends, Gabor and Palmer. She has Pocahontas braids and brown eyes. She and Claire share a love of Keds.

• Abby Boyd: Actress who stole both of Hadley's boyfriends. She has a bad girl rep. Her hair is wavy and dark, but she dyes it blonde and short for the movie. She pretends to be Claire's best friend though she is not.

• “Meena”: She loves to dress oddly and protest like Layne and Heather.

• “Nina Callas”: Alicia’s slutty cousin, who steals all their boyfriends and the Clique’s stuff. In the Alicia novella, she and Alicia have a terrible fight and become closer eventually. She has major D-cups and long, thick dark hair and hazel eyes. She is a reformed dork and only wanted Alicia to like her.

• “Celia and Isobel Callas”: Nina’s twin sisters. They are, at first, very nice to Alicia in her novella. Then it is revealed they only used her for her clothes. They get a taste of their medicine at the end of the book when they are forced to lick ice cream off a fat man’s belly.

• “Nigeal”: A British hottie Alicia and Nina meet in Alicia’s novella. It is revealed he is! I!, the sexy Spanish pop star and that he never goes out in public for fear of blowing his cover.

• “Eli”: Layne’s makeup-wearing boyfriend, who she breaks up with because she doesn’t like “a guy who wears more mascara than I do.”

• “Dempsey Solomon”: The eco-friendly hottie who comes back to Westchester after losing his baby fat building homes in Africa. Massie and Layne like him until it is revealed he has a crush on Kristen. He plays soccer for a short time until he injures himself when Massie accidentally trips him.

• “Dune Baxter”: Kristen’s summer crush, who has sandy blonde hair. He introduces her to relax and have some fun. He briefly likes Skye Hamilton, until he finds her to be a snob.

• “Ripple Baxter'”: Dune’s younger sister, who is nine. Kristen tutors her over the summer before quitting. She then nominates Ripple to join the cheerleading squad.

Nurse Adele: The school nurse that helped Claire when she first came to OCD. She owns a lost and found in the office and often chats with Claire.

List of novels

Title	|Length
Title	|Length
Title	|Length	Quill Awards Quill Awards The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years in 2005-07. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy." The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the Quill Award, was supported by a number of notable media corporations,...  in the "Young Adult/Teen" category. Best Friends for Never reached The New York Times The New York Times The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...  bestseller list in early February 2005, four months after it was published, but remained there only one week. It returned in late February for another week, reaching #7. Following the release of the next volume in the series, It entered the bestseller list again in late March, where it stayed another week, then in late April, where it remained for three weeks. In late March it also made an appearance on the Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...  bestseller list, coming in at #9. Copies of the novel have continued to sell in large numbers: nearly 150,000 in 2005, over 200,000 in 2006, and over 150,000 in 2007. Three of the novels from the "Summer Collection", Alicia, Dylan, and Massie, made the New York Time's Children's Books best seller list. On June 22, 2008, Alicia debuted on the list in first place, with Dylan and Massie placing second and sixth, respectively. Critical reviews In reviewing the first novel, The Clique, reviewers remarked on the behavior of the characters, with Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...  noting that it "takes cliquish, snobbish behavior to Hollywood extremes" and School Library Journal School Library Journal The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...  saying that "the cruelty of the clique [is not] redeemed with any sort of a satisfying ending." There were also comments about the novel's use of brand names: School Library Journal said that it "has trendy references kids will love"; Booklist Booklist Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...  expounded more on the subject, saying that the novel goes into "too much detail about how the superwealthy live" but added that it "has fun with the tyranny of brand names" - although they also cautioned that "the very specifics that teens will recognize will be 'so out' before the year is over." Additionally, Booklist described the instant messaging Instant messaging Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet... segments as "hilarious", while School Library Journal criticised "the shallowness of the characters" and "the one-dimensional plot". Spero News says "At first, it's easy to hate this book and the shallow materialism that these characters embody. On the other hand, they're so impossible to take seriously that you have to laugh at them. These girls are so 13-going-on-30." Reviewers' general descriptions of Best Friends for Never focused on its lightweight nature and entertainment value: Book Loons called it "good soap operatic fun", The Virginian Pilot said it was "a fairly quick and easy read", Teen Reads found it to be "another quick, fun, enjoyable read", while Romantic Times thought that it was "sinful, nasty fun" and gave it three stars. More negative comments that were made included The Virginian Pilots assertion that it "lacks the sophistication and style of deeper novels". On the behavior of the characters—something the first volume was criticised for—Romantic Times said, "Good news for fans—the girls are just as catty now as they were before." Book Loons added that it "does capture both the occasionally unpleasant verbal interactions and emotional vulnerability of pre-teen girls." The book's cliffhanger ending was described as "perfect" by Teen Reads and according to The Virginian Pilot is, along with the "mild twists", what made the novel an "interesting read." The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL. Silverdale Interactive © 2024. All Rights Reserved.   x OK