Take Three Girls

January 1, 2021

Gr 10 Up-Sixteen-year-olds Clem, Kate, and Ady thought they had nothing in common. When they are grouped together during their Australian private school's wellness class, they realize that they were brought together to support one another through tough times and heartbreaks. They work together to discover who is behind the gossip site PSST which spreads lies and starts rumors about female students' struggles, relationships, hookups, and sexuality. This story tackles a wide variety of topics such as cyberbullying, body image and self esteem, confidence, making good choices, relationship and dating difficulties, and parental substance abuse. Each chapter, titled based on a wellness class topic, begins with a detailed class worksheet which contains an inspirational quote, discussion points, and a description of a task like a journal entry. The chapters are divided into sections, each one narrated by one of the girls. Some of the pages are formatted like social media posts while others contain the girls' wellness class journal entries. Readers who are experiencing tough times will connect with the characters, who are strong and resilient. Each girl's character growth, interests, and how she overcomes challenges is relatable. Throughout the book there is profanity and descriptions of sexual activities. VERDICT This story will keep readers wondering who is behind the gossip while addressing important teen issues and proving how essential friendship is when dealing with difficult situations.-Elizabeth Gold, Midwood H.S., NY

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2021
Three Australian girls deal with devastating attacks on a gossip website. Clem is struggling with her self-esteem, her weight, and her role on the swim team. Kate tries to find the courage to audition for an overseas music program while cramming for an academic scholarship exam that would allow her to remain at her expensive boarding school. Ady just wants everything to go back to normal and for her home life to stop spiraling out of control. When the three are grouped together in a wellness class, they at first are none too enthused. Worse, they've all been targeted by the shady, misogynistic gossip site PSST. Bisexual Ady's father struggles with cocaine addiction, Clem is plus size, and Kate comes from a poorer family than her classmates. Each of their narratives deals with emotionally intense subjects, including extreme misogyny, body shaming, unhealthy relationships, and addiction. Sixteen-year-old Clem's storyline focuses on thinking you are more of an adult than you really are as she gets into uncomfortable situations with her 19-year-old boyfriend. Talented cellist Kate's is centered around the idea of expectations, both her expectations of others and their expectations of her. Ady's deals with having your foundations taken away and discovering who you really are. These three disparate narratives, told through alternating first-person chapters interspersed with school assignments and excerpts from PSST, form a solid braid, perfectly reflecting the nature of the bond the girls forge. Main characters read as White. Compelling and relevant. (Fiction. 14-18)

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April 15, 2021
Grades 9-12 In response to cyberbullying, the girls at St. Hilda's boarding school are required to take a wellness class, in which Ady, Clem, and Kate find themselves grouped together. Ady has a family life troubled by addiction, Clem has body issues after stopping competitive swimming, and Kate wants to pursue music but is pressured to study medicine. As the girls complete their wellness assignments, a bond forms between them, especially after they are targeted by an anonymous online gossip group, and when it becomes too much, they work together to bring the bullies down. Authors Crowley, Wood, and Howell collaborate on a novel that explores the struggles faced by adolescents in the age of social media. Each author pens one girl's perspective, alternating among them, and the story is enhanced by the use of the girls' wellness assignments, with worksheets and journal entries embedded in the text. Well-blended themes of passion, female independence, and personal growth will have teen readers relating to these three girls as they work through their respective struggles.

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July 5, 2017
Take Three Girls is a novel about friendship, written by friends. The voices of Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood blend seamlessly to create a narrative about three girls who are grouped together for a wellness class in their elite private school. Clem, Kate and Ady are superficially different—a swimmer struggling with body image and the longing of first love, a musician afraid to chase her dreams, and a rich girl wanting more inspiration and creativity than her sarcastic group of friends allow. Their personal struggles and shared values eventually form the basis of a strong friendship, which drives the narrative of the book. This beautifully crafted, lively novel captures the good and the bad of female friendship. It celebrates the unique bonds that are made between young women in their formative years, but also acknowledges the toxic social constructs that many young women struggle with in their platonic and romantic relationships. It also explores online bullying, body and slut shaming, jealousy and feminism. Female friendship is a theme that has long been sidelined in favour of the trendier romance narrative, and it is a relief to see it growing in popularity, particularly in YA fiction. Bec Kavanagh is a Melbourne-based writer, reviewer and manager of the Stella Schools Program