Snatch and Release
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers Part 3
Hey GLUs! Welcome back to The Clique Book Club.
We find ourselves at the point in the story where even Alicia, the OG Nina supporter, is starting to read the writing on the wall—writing that has been scratched into the Ralph Lauren wallpaper by her cousin’s crooked cat claws. The message—a cautionary tale about what happens to your friend group when you ignore your instincts—is sobering.
Nina’s recent offenses include pressuring Dylan and Kristen to dress provocatively AND swooping in on Cam, Derrington, and Josh!! (Cue Hall and Oates’ 1982 classic, “Maneater”)
The girls band together to come up with a scheme-a to take down Nina. And where does it get them? I’d tell you to ask Massie or Claire, but you can’t. The scheme-a landed them in detention. And the moms are PISSED!
All the while, random items around OCD continue to go missing. Too bad Nina isn’t one of them.
Let’s discuss.
Last we checked in, Massie was furious with Claire over her Bean allergy. Now, they are on the mend. Behavioral Pattern Alert: Massie tends to forget old feuds when she needs an ally. Are most of her friendships forged out of finding common enemies? Or do you think something deeper is at play?
Nina is seemingly unshaken and unstoppable. How would you make Nina crack?
Does Nina even want the Briarwood boys? What is she really after here?
LFG (Let’s F-ing Gossip)!
Xoxo Lisi & Ellen
1) Massie is definitely someone who uses people, so she is quick to forget past drama if she discovers having that person as an ally is worth more. I think her friendships can be forged out of common enemies, but also out of common willingness to worship Massie. She wants people that are willing to fight with her and be completely loyal to whatever cause she has at the time. So what if they betray her or do something ah-noying yet again? She always has some backups ready to go in. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
2) At this point, the girls don’t have much experience with boys, but they somehow expect them all to come crawling their way when Nina is the one actively trying to catch them all. A lot of issues in these books arise from lack of communication (which is so true of middle school life in general). At the same time, the boys were all under the "Spanish Soccer Spell," so I'm not sure how well that would have went either. Nina was a strong opponent for Massie because she was just so hard to predict!
3) Nina is living her best life away from the shadow of her sisters. I actually just finished rereading Alicia’s summer collection book, and it’s clear that Nina has never really been the center of attention in her family. Being able to go to another country by herself, where no one really knows her, means that she is able to write her own story. She really took full advantage of that for however long she could.
1. Massie seems to respect (some) good people with determination and solid internal principles, even if the external factors and situations are wildly different. She admired Claire in book 1 after noticing that Claire's resilience reminded her of Bean, and teamed up with Layne in Boys R Us due to their common philosophy of relationship revenge. The problem is that Massie is too obsessed with her perceived popularity that she will work against them until she actually needs their help.
I read on the Internet that colleges such as Harvard like applicants who are very "well-rounded" (e.g. a valedictorian with several extracurriculars) or very "well-lopsided" (e.g. a prizewinner of a national competition for one subject but is middling everywhere else). I don't know if that claim is or was true, but one consequence of this differentiation is that the students who are just good at a few subjects are at a disadvantage, whether justifiably or not.
I think a similar principle applies in OCD's social life. The Pretty Committee and DSL Daters are mostly "well-rounded" in the sense that their members excel at the fashion and social expectations for OCD girls. Layne is the equivalent of "well-lopsided" because she naturally and sincerely follows her own trends. Claire seems to bounce between the two ends depending on how much Massie likes her.
When Massie is desperate, it makes sense for her to join forces with outcasts like Layne. Her usual friends have either betrayed her or aren't enough to overcome Massie's rival. The "typical" OCD girls and the wannabes fall short of Massie's social status and fashion sense, and for any other skill they may have, Massie can probably find some weirdo who specializes in that skill. Massie even used Claire's Operation Toe Jam on Nina. Even though it didn't work, it was worth a try!
2. Skye is probably the only OCD student who can compete one-on-one with Nina, so I'd ask her to deal with Nina. As long as the DSL Daters keep the Share Bear camera hidden, I think Nina won't be a threat to Skye. But if Nina steals the Bear or the bomb shelter key, then Skye may be in big trouble….
Another, suboptimal, possibility is to just see how the winds blow over the course of the semester. Social status at OCD has the potential to change on a dime, after all.
3. I have no idea. If she's trying to make a mark on OCD given her limited time at the school, then she's well on her way to succeeding (for now).