Nice and Mean

Nice and Mean by Jessica Leader 2010
AladdinM!X/ Simon & Schuster

Rating: 3.5/5

IQ "Oh, I remember. Every few years something Indian becomes cool, and then people forget about it. '[Priyanka]

'I know!' I cried. 'I want to say to them, 'Wait! I was cool last year' [Sachi]

'Hello?' said Priyanka, with a hint of Nani's accent that made me giggle. 'Have you forgotten about us over here, on the other side of the globe?'" pg. 203-204

Sachi is nice. Marina is mean. The two are forced to work together and make a video for Video class. Marina looks down on Sachi because Sachi is not popular; she doesn't have a lot of money, she's shy and she's too nice. Sachi is somewhat afraid of Marina because Marina is rich, loud and rude. These two seventh graders are going to have to work out their problems if they want to get a good grade in Video.

Nice and Mean is interesting in that it shows from a middle grade perspective the downside of being nice all the time and why sometimes it can be good to be a little mean (but just a little! Don't go overboard, haha). Even though Marina can act rudely towards other people, no one ever tries to take advantage of her, she's strong and that's a good thing. At the same time, even her closest friends are afraid of her and she hides her real feelings from her friends which hinders their friendship. You're supposed to be able to be completely honest with your best friends. As the two main character, Sachi and Marina are well developed. There are cracks in Marina's armor of uncaring and toughness and Sachi doesn't want to be the nice girl all the time, she wants to be somewhat popular. I do wish that Marina's friends had been better developed, we only saw one side of their personality, they were either nice (Elizabeth) or mean (Rachel). Sachi's sister Priyanka is not just there to be the annoying older sister, she has her own hopes and reams and is under a lot of pressure too, I enjoyed watching her relationship with Sachi grow again.

Sachi wants to know how someone or something becomes popular. The question about who decides what is popular has no real answer and the author demonstrates this through the words and actions of the students at Marina and Sachi's school. While the message of being comfortable with yourself and not worrying about popularity is a good one, I'm not so sure middle school and even some high school students would buy it. They may agree with the idea, but in the end, I think that some (not all) students will dismiss this notion and continue to focus on popularity. My hope is that I'm wrong and that with more books like Nice and Mean being written with similar messages, kids will be encouraged to just be their own unique self and not worry about having everyone like them (because that will never happen). I picked the Incredible Quote above because it illustrates an amusing but honest conversation that Sachi and Priyanka have. It's about how every few years or so, Indian culture becomes popular (bhangra music, people start wearing variations of saris, etc.) and then interest dies out. I thought this was an interesting point that was brought up and I enjoyed reading about Sachi exploring the topic. Fashion trends can change, but it's not right that every couple of years one culture or another becomes "in" and then later on, it's "out."

Nice and Mean is a cute read that had me remembering my own middle school years (which was only about 2-3 years ago, haha) and had more depth than I expected. I think this book will really appeal to its targeted audience, older readers will think it's cute but they may grow frustrated at Sachi's passive voice or Marina's unchecked bullying. Middle school readers will be able to better relate and the subtle message incorporated into the novel about being assertive is one that all middle school aged students should keep in mind as they prepare for high school. The message about popularity is predictable and not as subtle. Towards the end it becomes quite clear what the message is since it is said over and over. I was also really pleased at the diversity in this novel. It's not forced, it all seems natural. Not only is Sachi Indian American but one of Marina's best friends is half Chinese and there are Latino and African American characters sprinkled throughout the novel. Schools are getting more and more diverse and I was really happy to see that Ms. Leader recognized that and included it. My automatic assumption would have been that all Marina's friends and their boyfriends/crushes were white, but they weren't. Marina's bullying humor, along with her horror of having to work with Sachi (and vice versa) all make for a pleasant and amusing read.

Disclosure: Received from the author as part of her blog tour. Check out our mini interivew!

PS The Aladdin M!X books are very cool. The summary of the book is on the last page and the author bio is on the front page. It's different and I like it. Plus the cover is very cute (Marina writes in a little black book about things she loves/hates).

Mini Colorful Interview with Jessica Leader + Giveaway!

Jessica Leader is an author making her debut with the middle grade novel Nice and Mean. It's a very cute read that brought me back to my middle school years (which wasn't all that long ago but still). My review.

I'm participating in a blog tour celebrating the release of Nice and Mean. Welcome Jessica!

Reading in Color: What was the hardest part about writing Nice and Mean?

Jessica Leader: Balancing backstory and forward action in the first two chapters. Oof! A killer. Especially since I had to do it twice.

RiC: What was the easiest part about writing Nice and Mean?

Jessica Leader: I have very vivid memories of middle school, and I taught middle school for many years, so it was easy to render the school scenes and—I must admit—the teacher dialogue. There’s one moment where Sachi’s beloved English teacher, Ms. Avery, comes into the classroom to find everyone throwing around soda bottles, and barks, “My classroom, my time,” while she whips a baseball cap off a student’s head. When I read what I’d written, I started cracking up, because it was the kind of thing I might say, although hopefully, I would have shown more restraint with the cap. I wasn’t picturing Ms. Avery like myself at all, but clearly, we use similar speaking styles when we’re steamed.

RiC: Why did you decide to make Sachi Indian American?

Jessica Leader: I wouldn’t say I decided to make Sachi Indian-American so much as she came to me as an Indian-American character and I put her in the story I was writing. She and Marina, the “mean” half of Nice and Mean, weren’t always main characters; they actually appeared as supporting characters in the first manuscript I ever wrote. When I recognized that I needed to move on from that story, I knew those two girls had greater fictional destinies to fulfill. That’s how Nice and Mean came to be.

Sachi was inspired by a student in an English class I observed as part of my teacher training. Like Sachi, the girl had emigrated from India when she was five, and she wrote this lovely memoir about coming to the United States for the first time and being scared of people with blue eyes. She was kind, smart, and poised, and her classmates adored her. And yet, I got this feeling from her that she was keeping something from people, and that they didn’t really know her. This inspired me to create a character in the same predicament, voila—a Sachi was born.

RiC: Why did you choose to have her emigrate from India, rather than being from a family who immigrated before she was born?

Jessica Leader: Friends who immigrated as children have told me that they always long for home and often have a sense of loss. Sachi didn’t feel either of those things much—until seventh grade, when the story takes place. That’s when her friends start implying that she’s sheltered, and she gets paired with the aggressive Marina Glass to make a video she’d hoped would change the way people saw her. I think there’s something about growing up that can make people feel like they’re lost and have left something behind, so making that element of Sachi’s life literal through her geographic history made sense.

RiC: What did you learn about Indian culture that surprised you?

Jessica Leader: When I showed some Indian-American readers a near-final draft of the book, they were “quite impressed” with how accurately I’d portrayed the Indian family, which felt great to hear. They cautioned, though, that in the draft they’d read, the character of the older sister, Priyanka, functioned too much like a mom, policing Sachi’s behavior and warning her against embarrassing the family. They said that in other Asian cultures, the oldest sibling might be an enforcer, but in Indian culture, all the kids would function as kids.

That it turned out to be an exciting development because it gave me a chance to develop Priyanka and deepen her resolution with Sachi. I’m doing a ton of research for the YA novel I’m writing now, and I’m finding a similar phenomenon: knowing your subject intricately can make your story more moving.

RiC: Fill in the blank: ______ is nice but __________ is mean

Jessica Leader: Caring about people is nice, but caring too much about people is mean.

Of course it’s good to care about other people; its part of what makes us human. But caring too much about people—what they’ve got that you don’t have; what they might think about you—makes Marina edgy and vengeful, and makes Sachi afraid to tell friends and family what she needs. Without wanting to give too much away, I would say that the events in Nice and Mean show them that when they relax their hyper-awareness of others and focus on what they enjoy, life is a lot better for them and those around them.

Thanks for having me on the blog, Ari! Over and out!

Thank you Jessica :)

Yesterday Jessica was over at The Page Flipper and tomorrow she will be talking to Lauren at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

Jessica has kindly sponsored a giveaway for all you readers.

You can win one of the following books (your pick)
* Summer Camp Secrets by Katy Grant (for all your middle-grade reading pleasure)
* The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (hm, I'm sensing a summer theme)
* Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson (a page-turner by Jess's indispensible friend) RiC: Psst here's my review of this amazing book
* A signed copy of Need by Carrie Jones (yes! Signed by the author! Not by Jess; that would be weird)
* Boys Are Dogs by Leslie Margolis (one of Jess's favorite middle-grade books)
* The Year I Turned Sixteen by Diane Schwemm (worth all ten pounds)

Nice and Mean swag
* signed N&M bookmarks

Swag of Nice Girl Sachi:

* Indian bangle bracelets (not as special as Nani's ring, but still important)

* Indian coconut candies (these are so good--you're lucky Jess didn't eat all of them)

Swag of Mean Marina:

* Dr. Pepper lip gloss (Dr. Pepper: the only drink)

* Pilot Rolling Ball pens (PRBs: the only pen)

* stick-on rhinestones (Yuck! Marina wishes you wouldn't mention these. The mess with Rachel is their fault!)

My giveaway ends June 12, 2010
Open to U.S. only
Fill out THIS FORM

To win the Grand Prize check out Jessica Leader's blog. The Grand Prize consists of all the swag I'm giving away here and an autographed copy of Nice and Mean. Learn how to earn points by spreading the word, or win the battle of wits where you get to vote for your favorite nice or mean character in books, TV and movies

Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaLeader
Become a fan of Nice and Mean on Facebook