By Jordyn Turney, 20, reporting from Alpine, CA, on a suspenseful new novel that busts stereotypes—and cheating high school boys.
In my very first RED Hearts post, I talked about the incredible Agent 99 from "Get Smart." Now, I revisit the topic of kick-butt female spies with an amazing debut novel by Suzanne Young. The novel, The Naughty List, is the first in a planned series about — get this — a cheerleading squad that doubles as spies.
Yeah, you read that correctly. Aren't we all sick of the cheerleaders-as-villains routine? Here, Tessa and the rest of her squad are in the nonprofit business of catching the unfaithful boyfriends of their high school. They're not half-hearted about it either. Nope, these girls rappel off roofs, go on stakeouts, and have awesome spy gadgets. AND THEY'RE CHEERLEADERS! Suzanne Young — with her sugar-sweet heroine who replaces common cuss words with exclamations of baked goods (yep, you read that part right, too) — turns the mean-girl-who-just-happens-to-be-captain stereotype on its head and makes it work.
The story focuses on the new boy in school who's obsessed with Tessa, and her wonderful, perfect boyfriend who winds up on The Naughty List (the cheerleaders' roundup of potential cheaters). It's part teenage love story, part spy spectacular, and it does both brilliantly. The Naughty List is in stores now, and the next two are scheduled to come out later in the year. I suggest moving this book to the top of your reading list yesterday, because it's just. that. great.
PS-Want to hear the back story of The Naughty List cover? I Heart Daily co-editor Melissa has it!