Bad Girls (Original)

by Alex McAulay

Book Overview

Thick with suspense and simmering with adolescent turmoil, Bad Girls is an action-adventure survival story that pits a group of troubled teens against a forbidding tropical landscape, an elusive enemy, and, worst of all, each other. It's Mean Girls meets Lord of the Flies, and it marks the debut of an innovative new voice in fiction. Anna Wheeler's parents have had it up to here. They can't seem to control their daughter anymore and so, one night,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743497333
• ISBN13: 9780743497336
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: MTV Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

One of my favorites!

I'm 26 now and this is the book that got me into reading chick-lit and teen-lit again! I randomly picked it up one day and couldnt put it down! its very much like 'Lord of the Flies' but with girls who are in a boot camp. All of the characters are different, interesting and unique. The book is pretty awesome and entertaining. I really hope it gets made into a movie like i've read in other peoples reviews! Lohan vs. Duff??? Awesome!!! LOL

Bad Girls only means the girls are the bad ones.

I wasn't sure how to take Bad Girls at first. Right away we were put into the action; Anna Wheeler -an out of control sixteen year old girl- is running for what seems to be, her life. In the end, her attempt for freedom fails and she is thrown back into the hands of her captives. While she rides off to her destination, we learn what was brought Anna into her current situation. Back in Georgia, Anna had partied and stayed out late. She got high and drunk, and then had an abortion to top it off. It seemed like Anna's life couldn't be more out of control. Finally, we learn she is going to be sent to a "Wilderness Camp" called Camp Archstone to help change her into a respectable young women. This is -of course- the work of her over religious, former military man of a father, whom Anna couldn't have a worse relationship with. Anna arrives at Camp Archstone and is given everything she will need at the camp. Things go along as planed in Archstone for the next day or so. It is a prison like camp, where the girls are treated like inmates and must endure gurling physical activities, while overcoming psychological problems as well. Then when a hiking trip goes terribly wrong, Anna and the girls she has met at the camp, must band together to survive in the wilderness of the remote Caribbean island that Camp Archstone is on. Bad Girls drew me in right away. I was able to sympathize with Anna almost right away, even with her "bad girl" flaws. Yet, I couldn't help but feel by putting Anna and the other girls in Archstone, the author was only looking for a way to get these girls in the wilderness. After they run into the forest when someone is shot, Archstone is basically out of the picture. McAulay could have done a better job trying to weave Archstone into the story more, and make it more important in the second half of the story. Anna and the other girls seemed to sit around a lot as well. Parts of the story seemed to lag when his happened, and you just wanted to move on with the story. Also at times, the story seemed to be pushing itself a little too much, that it was hard to take is seriously. When the story ended, it seemed so abruptly. There was no closer with Anna's life and the reader is left to guess what happens next. Will she tell her father the truth? What will happened to her photography teacher and does Anna clean up her life when she returns? What about Camp Archstone, does it remain open? These questions and more are left unanswered and makes you wish for just a few more pages in the book. Overall, this a very enjoyable read. Having these spoiled high school girls try to survive in the wilderness is so intriguing, and you feel like your right there with them the whole time. It can creep you out but also make you cheer on Anna to survive in the end. There is also enough drama to draw the fans of Gossip Girl or other teen series in for the read. If you're looking for a quick read that you can't put down, this is something to pick up. While is

What a good book!

Okay, so this is probably like a strong PG-13, they use the f-word and talk about rape and sex and drugs, but I loved this book. HIGHLY recommended.

My favorite book since Perks of being a Wallflower

To put it simply: This book was amazing. It combines drama/comedy/and suspense. I couldn't put it down and ended up reading the entire book in a day. I thought that the characters all seemed very real and easy to relate to. Anna, the main character, was sent to the wilderness camp because she was a 'bad girl', but as the book goes on you find that she's really just a normal teen who has made some mistakes. When the girls are lost in the wilderness to fend for themselves they have to pull together and trust each other if they want to survive. As you get farther into the book the girls stumble across some eccentric (but not necessarily nice) characters. I do wish that the book would have had more of a closure saying what happened to the other girls when they were left to themselves. I suppose the author did this as to leave that up to our own imagination. 'Bad Girls' is definatly worth reading.

Good Girls Finish Last

What an awesome book. From page one to three-hundred plus this book is a page turner. It all starts with Anna's wild, uncontrollable behavior that gets her sent to Camp Archstone on Andros Island. Everything is mechanical in this wilderness camp for bad girls. Every girl has a story to tell and Anna doesn't know who she can trust. On a camping trip something goes horribly wrong and the real adventure begins. The girls must fight for their lives and the reader feels as if they are truly a bad girl. There are so many different scenarios, and secrets living within the island. The whole time Anna has flashbacks of her own secret that she's hiding. Who will make it to safety, if anyone? This book was a great read. The ending wasn't as strong, it was kind-of sappy in my opinion. Other than that, this makes for a great summer read. I would say it's for the young adult 18+ crowd.