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Book Review: SIX ANGRY GIRLS by Adrienne Kisner

Six Angry Girls is an important story about mock trial, knitting, and what it means to be a girl. Raina Petree, a senior at Steelton High, is a girl who’s life seemed to go down the drain in less than a week. She quit the drama club, her boyfriend just broke up with her, and college is seeming more unlikely than usual.

Millie Goodwin’s life at Steelton High seemed to flash away just like Raina’s. Except her Mock Trial team just kicked her off, after four years of painstaking work she put into the team. What happens when two angry girls meet and start a rival club? Well you get a team with the heart to fight back.

Raina and Millie were such great main characters. I loved the duel perspectives. Both had rough family lives, and went through hardships, but they came together and that’s what matters. Raina in the beginning of the book was so dependent on her boyfriend, that her growth by the end made me feel so happy for her. And the other main character, Millie, learned what it meant to stand up to others, and eventually found her happy ending.

One of the sub-plots of Six Angry Girls takes place at a knitting store which was a really different scene, probably more so for a YA book. I thought it was so refreshing to see a group of different-aged women all come together to knit. But the group was so much more than that, and that made it so much better. The way they protested the local government was unique to say the least, making it an interesting subplot.

One thing that bothered me a bit in this story was how the author wrote about Mock Trial. As someone who is on a high school Mock Trial team, it made me a little disappointed that she took out a lot of important things out of the process, like a pre-trial, and then seemed to take off at least one witness. But overall, it felt great to see a story about feminism and Mock Trial.

Overall, Six Angry Girls is a book every young-minded reader should check out. It showed me that you can always get back up, and to not let anyone keep you down. The girls became a team, and pushed back when things got rough. Even if this wasn’t the best story written ever, it was an important one.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Six Angry Girls was originally scheduled for release on June 2, 2020, but had been pushed back to August 18th, so you still have time to pre-order.

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Official overview:

A story of mock trial, feminism, and the inherent power found in a pair of knitting needles.

Raina Petree is crushing her senior year, until her boyfriend dumps her, the drama club (basically) dumps her, the college of her dreams slips away, and her arch-nemesis triumphs.

Things aren’t much better for Millie Goodwin. Her father treats her like a servant, and the all-boy Mock Trial team votes her out, even after she spent the last three years helping to build its success.

But then, an advice columnist unexpectedly helps Raina find new purpose in a pair of knitting needles and a politically active local yarn store. This leads to an unlikely meeting in the girls’ bathroom, where Raina inspires Millie to start a rival team. The two join together and recruit four other angry girls to not only take on Mock Trial, but to smash the patriarchy in the process.

By Brooke

Hey, I'm Brooke. I love some trashy YA books, and lots and lots of coffee. Reading is my passion and my only love!