The Boys' School Girls: Tara's Sister Trouble - Lil Chase

The Boys' School Girls: Tara's Sister Trouble by Lil Chase
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hillcrest High Boys' School is admitting girls for the first time, and Tara couldn't be more excited. New friends? Check. Cute boys? Check. Mean sister gone? Wrong...

When she discovers Maxie is joining the school too, Tara is crushed. How can she be her own person when her cleverer, prettier sister seems determined to outshine her? And sibling trouble isn't Tara's only problem.

With only ten girls in the year, they're going to have to stick together to survive. Boys against girls? Bring. It. On.




Tara has just been transferred to Hillcrest High Boys’ school which for this year are introducing girls to the school. The main reason is that she has a crush on a boy who attends and thought this would be the perfect way of him noticing her. On arriving at the school Tara finds out that she is one of 9 girls who are attending the school, one of which has also followed her from her old school and is her enemy.

Tara has a sister, one who is only 11 months older than her, but thankfully attends a different school. Tara’s world comes crashing down when it is revealed that Maxie (her sister) is going to be attending Hillcrest along with Tara as she has been expelled from her school for gifted children.

This story is about friendship and family. Throughout the story many issues are covered and at times I felt the girls have behaved very maturely as they are only 11 going on 12. I feel this is a good beginning of a series and will appeal to many, those who are feeling isolated and alone will also benefit from reading this. I remember falling out with friends when I was this age and felt the whole world was against me. This book would have helped me realise this is a normal thing, and many go through feeling this at some point.

As an older reader I was quite surprised, sometimes when reading a middle grade book I get a little annoyed or cross as the level of immaturity irritates me. I didn’t feel this while reading it. Tara came across as quite a feisty girl but one who cared about her family and friends. While Maxie was not likable at the beginning, however my opinion of her changed towards the end. The other characters are a little 1 dimensional; this I feel is because there are so many of them in the book and you as a reader never really get to know them well.

The book was read in one sitting, it is an easy read which passed the time well. There is not a lot of substance to it, so if you are looking for something meaty this may not be for you. However I believe this has captured the target audience and will do very well. The book does open your eyes to what is important in life and perhaps what the girls think is important to begin with actually isn’t. This is something though that I feel a lot of girls entering teenage years feel and at the age the girls are this is not uncommon.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.