Sorority Sisters

Bouncy and dialogue-driven, but awkwardly written, this debut novel strives to teach its predominantly African-American, 20-something female audience how to become strong and self-confident women independent of the financial or emotional support of family and boyfriends. While certainly a good life lesson, this maturing process occurs for five college women during one melodramatic sorority rush week, and there are so many characters with predictable, public-service-announcement problems that it's a challenge to sort them all out, much less learn from their mistakes. The hapless heroines--cute ingenue Cajen Myers, spoiled rich kid Stephanie Madison, romantically torn Malena Adams, ghetto-born-and-raised Tiara Johnson and book-smart Chancey Wright--must overcome their diverse economic and social backgrounds in the process of pledging a choice sorority. While the women vie for the best look and the best guy (both of which receive an excessive amount of description), the five friends also seem to compete for ""worst obstacle to success,"" what with Cajen's herpes, Stephanie's drug-addicted biological mother and other issues like cheating boyfriends, unwanted pregnancy and low self-esteem. These are all worthy topics, but Butler's crowd of characters commonly experience revelations that conveniently guarantee a shallow victory for all by story's end. The book aims for suspense--will all five women join the sorority? Will they commit to the right man?--but the stereotypical characters and predictable situations remain insubstantial, although perhaps entertaining and even informative for a teenage audience. (May) FYI: Butler founded Lavelle Publishing, which issued this book in 1998.