MISS PICKEL'S PICKS

  I just finished  The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry and I absolutely loved it!  The book starts when the seven students at St. Etheldreda’s School For Young Ladies are having their weekly Sunday dinner with their headmistress and her brother. During the main course Mrs. Plackett and Mr. Godding suddenly drop dead and the girls quickly realize that they have been poisoned.  The girls are a family and they do not want to be sent home. So they  decide to bury the body in the garden and pretend everything is totally normal. They find out pretty quickly, though, that is much easier said than done! The whole book reminded me so much of Gordon Korman’s Slacker . Just like Cam in Slacker had to invent a fake club and keep up a huge act to stay out of trouble, these seven girls have to use all their wits to run the school in secret. Between dodging nosy neighbors and keeping their "scandalous" secret safe, the chaos never stops. If you want...

  The popular clique at Claflin Academy made a pact that they would each apply to a different Ivy League school. On early decision day Olivia, the main character, is surprised to learn that Emma secretly applied to Harvard, which was supposed to be reserved for Avery, the Queen Bee of the group. The next day Emma is found dead and Olivia, who had also secretly applied to Harvard, starts to investigate her death. Making things more complicated, Olivia and Emma both get into Harvard, but Avery doesn't. This is my favorite genre blend - a mystery/thriller set at a boarding school with a Gossip Girls/Mean Girls vibe. This book has it all: a protagonist worth rooting for, a mystery filled with red herrings, and a super fast pace. I highly recommend it!