This bubbly, fun and smart new series is the second big release from Scholastic's Graphix imprint. Clugston, well-known for her edgy and stylish Blue Monday
and Scooter Girl
, has done it again in this stinging portrayal of popularity battles between beautiful middle-schoolers. Haley, the new girl, is determined to be popular and, in spite of the occasional gaffe resulting from her runaway psychokinetic powers, she succeeds. When an even newer girl shows up to challenge her new role as queen bee, it turns out that she possesses the same powers as Haley, and the battle begins. Energetic drawings and the girl-against-girl conflict recall the teen dramas of Archie, Betty and Veronica, while the climactic musical face-off carries off its Josie and the Pussycats homage with flair. Direct references to the best of the modern-day teen genre spice up the story, pointing out that Queen Bee
is right at home alongside Heathers
and Mean Girls
. Clugston knows how mean girls can really be; her dialogue bristles with barbed rejoinders and she never glosses over the true nastiness of the girl fight. Everything works in this funny, charming and true story, right down to the closing mystery of why Alexa and Haley look so much alike. (Aug.)
