The Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading

Product Information

Have you ever seen hair like that? Because I haven’t except for on those fake-ass plastic dolls. And to make things worse, apparently there are different kinds of taffy and one kind is soft and the other kind is hard. And neither of them look like hair. I just...don’t get it. It’s not just this one girl. Almost all of the girls on the squad are pulled into this. They stop eating, exercise for hours, make themselves tiny. One of them is described as a “pale eyelash of a girl” (more body part metaphors!) which is…

Tense, dark, and beautifully written" (Gillian Flynn), this novel of friendship and betrayal from an Edgar Award-winning author is a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl.What does this mean? Someone please explain to me what an “endless itchy waiting” is. Is it impatience? Are teenage girls too impatient to grow up? Are we trying too hard to be more mature? Because if we are, it’s not our fault for thinking we have to. Into a volatile balance of power comes new Head Coach Collette French. Loyalties shift, boundaries are tested, trusts will be broken and amidst all the angst and perpetual drama, a body will be discovered. For Ms. Abbott isn't just writing cheerleaders, she's writing noir cheerleaders, with a rich cast of characters each vying for the role of femme fatale. The worst one is p. 117: "Clattering the phone against the wall, she catapults it down the toilet." Megan Abbott is the Edgar®-winning author of the novels Die a Little, Queenpin, The Song Is You, Bury Me Deep, The End of Everything, Dare Me, The Fever, You Will Know Me and Give Me Your Hand. First issue: the suicide felt like it was thrown into the plot to add drama. Coach French was cheating on her husband with an army sergeant who was an old friend of hers, because of course we needed more clichés. And then Sarge died. Because Coach French cut things off with him. Because she was cheating on her husband.

I just don’t get it. You can use much more accurate descriptors and still sound lyrical. Making stupid comparisons that obviously make no sense is just...useless. It’s not a qualification for authors to have to make idiotic similes and metaphors. But the attention hasn’t all been positive. Aldama has been portrayed as a complicated figure: someone to whom the kids can turn for support – which many of them haven’t received elsewhere due to the circumstances of their upbringing – but also someone who rules the squad with an iron fist, encouraging cheerleaders to push through pain, at times to the point of collapse. Concerns were raised about the number of cheerleading-related injuries, including concussions and bruised ribs. Aldama was too tough, critics said, too heartless. although i think if she did write YA, she would be amazing at it. i think she could foster an entire generation of strong, cool, toughgirls. Cheerleading injuries can categorized into two basic types. These types are what we call purely accidental and preventable . Obviously, purely accidental injuries are the types that ,no matter what, they could not be stopped from happening. On the other hand, preventable injuries are the ones in which should have been foreseen and prevented. How do you tell the difference? Sure, there are a few awesome quotes and dramatic monologues in the book, but I can’t get past these phrases. Especially when they’re used to describe body parts. I don’t like body part metaphors. They’re uncomfortable and awkward and generally very strange and inaccurate.But my body is tight-tight-tightening. Hard and smooth, like hers. Waist pared down to nothing, like hers.”