cover image Trinkets

Trinkets

Kirsten Smith. Little, Brown, $17.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-316-16027-8

Eleventh graders Elodie, Tabitha, and Moe all attend Lake Oswego High, but burnout Moe and new girl Elodie are way below alpha girl Tabitha’s notice. Soon, though, they have something in common: after being caught shoplifting, Elodie and Tabitha are remanded to the counseling program Moe’s already in. Smith shifts among the three girls’ distinctive viewpoints: Tabitha is becoming skeptical about her lacrosse-star boyfriend and clothing—and looks-obsessed friends; tough girl Moe yearns for the neighbor boy who only likes her when no one’s around; and Elodie writes in a free-verse narrative that’s literary without being precious, a style Smith used in The Geography of Girlhood. The girls’ unlikely friendship starts with a contest to see who can boost the best stuff and develops as they find that they share more than the understanding that, as Elodie says, “a stolen present/ means way more than one that’s been bought/ because of what you had to go through to get it.” The plot lines converge a bit too neatly, but it’s a small flaw in this funny, smart, and perceptive book. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)