The Mommy Clique

If you think that “mean girls” can only be found in the high school cafeteria, think again. Author Barbara Altamirano shows that mean girls grow up to become mean mommies in her newest book, The Mommy Clique. The book takes place in a town in Connecticut and centers around a group of women whom all have elementary school-aged daughters. Some of the women have older and younger children as well. All of the women are married. Elise is “The Queen Bee” and is blond, skinny, beautiful, and perfect. She is married to the perfect man, Brad. Or so it seems on the outside. This woman is the epitome of a mean girls’ group leader. Then there’s Kelly, “The Sidekick”, who has Elise’s back at every turn. “The Wannabe” is the newest addition to the group and is a woman named Gail. Gail is so insecure and scared of not being a part of the group. Ronnie is “The Informer”. Sneaky and sly, she really should have been a detective. Yet Ronnie also has a nice side to her which comes out in several parts of the book. Last but not least is “The Target”. Beth grew up in this town in Connecticut and has moved back to take care of her aging mother. Out of the group, she is the only one who has a husband who is not Caucasian, but Ecuadorian and this is brought up several times.

This book had me turning its pages so quickly to find out what nasty trick the women were going to play on the poor newcomer, Beth, next. Beth is really undeserving of the “initiation” pranks played on her and wants to quit trying to be a part of the group several times. Ronnie always seems to get her to come back though. I felt sorry for the kids and all of the husbands except for slimy Brad. The pranks started getting worse and worse and pretty soon it was down to blackmail. This is where the book enters dangerous waters, messing with the couples’ relationships. The climax of this book seems to happen fairly quickly but is extremely satisfying. This book is fun, entertaining, and very humorous at times. My favorite part of the book is when Elise picks out Disney costumes for her friends, their husbands, and their daughters. It made me laugh picturing some of the husbands in costumes such as the Beast and Mulan’s love interest. Perfect for fans of the Mean Girls movies.