INVASION OF THE BOY SNATCHERS
Otherwise Known As: Nina the Obscena
Hey GLUs!
Welcome back to the Clique book club. This week, we’re diving into INVASION OF THE BOY SNATCHERS, where characters nicknamed Nina the Obscena actually exist.
After a long night of negotiations in William Block’s home office, the Lyons Family is NOT moving to Chicago! William offered Jay a job at his fancy-pants company, so the Lyons can afford to stay in Westchester. Whew. That was a close call. Everything is finally back to normal!
(Puh-lease. “Normal” never lasts.)
Our hormonally motivated girls continue to pursue hormonally motivated boys, which is normal and healthy, and totally age-appropriate. But what did we say about normal? All together now—IT NEVER LASTS. And boy oh boy snatcher, do things get loco when Alicia’s faaaabulous and hawt cousin Nina arrives from Spain. Is Alicia excited to spend time with her favorite cousin? Si. But she’s doubly excited that the Briarwood boys also want to spend time with Nina. A vote for Nina is a vote for Alicia, right?
This disruption causes a major eruption in the Pretty Committee, especially with Massie. She finally got her Clique back, and now Nina is getting all the attention. Dylan and Kristen are also wary of Nina’s charms, and Alicia’s standing in the Pretty Committee is threatened all over again.
Meanwhile, Kuh-laire is at max capacity. She’s trying to stay true to herself, water her friendship with Layne, spend time with her ah-dorable crush Cam, and maintain her standing in this flaming hot mess of a clique. AHH!
The chaos continues. Let’s discuss.
Massie is back on top. So why does she feel so threatened by Nina? Is Nina trying to be disruptive, or is she just being herself?
Tell us about a Nina in your life. Come on, we all have one.
Claire is doing more navigating than Google Maps when it comes to this group. At what point should she get off this bumpy road and reroute?
LFG (Let’s F-ing Gossip)!
Xoxo Lisi & Ellen
This one is so fun, as I reread I was laughing out loud at so many of the crazy scenes (can't wait to discuss the dance at the end)!
Just when things seemed settled from the wannabe shakeup, Nina enters the scene, and with all her so-called boy experience, Massie feels like she is behind in a major way. Massie is supposed to be the leader in all things Alpha, but Nina's boldness about boys is something Massie doesn't feel comfortable with yet. Leesh was supposed to be back on Massie's side all the way, but with her cousin, she's put in a weird spot, because of course she also wants the attention that Nina so naturally captures. Plus, with Massie getting closer and closer to Claire, Dylan and Kristen are considering jumping ship to the Obscena side. It feels like (for now) Claire is the only truly loyal Massie supporter, but living in close quarters can change things quickly...
1. Is it a cop-out to say both? I get the impression that disruption is within Nina's skillset, especially given her scheming in the Alicia book.
3. Many of the important cliques at OCD contain students who are exceptional in one or more aspects of their lives.
- The Pretty Committee: Rich and fashionable students with high perceived popularity.
- The Unbelievably Pretty Committee: Students who look and act similarly to TPC.
- The Witty Committee: Academically skilled and talented students. I view Kristen in the 99.9th percentile across most academic subjects, while the other four at around the 99.99th percentile in their chosen subjects but much lower elsewhere. After averaging out their performance I'd place Kristen ahead of the rest.
- The Eccentrix: Three of the weirdest (not in a bad way) girls in the 7th grade.
Claire doesn't stand out as much relative to the general population. She lacks the perceived popularity to join OCD's top cliques except for the Pretty Committee. Her strongest academic accomplishment was movie-only: winning the district spelling bee in 6th grade. Where she is different from the other OCD girls, it's usually negative, e.g. finances and fashion. So I think Claire's better off sticking with one or more PC members.
To avoid hindsight bias, I'm going to assume that Nina's thefts are not discovered and she stays at OCD for the entire spring semester. (I think a "What If" style episode where Nina faces off against Skye and the DSL Daters would be cool.) For most of the book, Nina is older and more socially capable than Massie, so just from a ranking standpoint Claire is better off joining Nina + Dylan + Kristen.
But I think on the longer term, the scales tip towards Massie. Claire lives with Massie and since everyone goes their separate ways for summer (I assume that was to some extent planned in advance). Claire was stunned and anxious when Cam ditched her at the end of Sealed with a Diss, and while the situations are not exactly comparable, if Massie and Claire's friendship ends and is not repaired before the summer, then Claire could be under a cloud of "what does Massie think of me?" until the start of 8th grade.