Reviewed by Christy H.
Sometimes you read a couple of books that may have
similar themes or plots or they could even be based on the same events. These
books can make interesting comparison reading or companion books. I thought a
companion series would be fun, and I started with two books that almost
couldn’t be any more different even though they both chronicle the lives of
high school cheerleaders.
Cheerleaders: The First Evil, written by R.L.
Stine, was first published in 1992. I probably first read it as a sixth grader
but I can’t say for certain. A re-read met my expectations: it’s cheesy, not at
all scary, and full of nostalgic fun. Sisters Bobbi and Corky Corcoran are new
to Shadyside High, and desperately want to make the cheerleading squad. They
are not exactly received with welcome arms.
Their placement incites resentment and jealousy when a freshman
cheerleader is demoted to “alternate” to make room for the championship-winning
sisters. Tensions grow when their head
cheerleader is injured and a veteran member of the squad is passed over for the
position in favor of new girl Bobbi.
All
of this is only exacerbated by the mysterious and frightening events that begin
to happen soon after the Corcoran sisters join the squad. Suddenly the teens
have to deal with a horrific bus accident, slamming locker doors in an empty
hall, sporadic bursts of paralysis for school athletes such as Bobbi and
football player Chip, and much, much worse. Stakes wise I assumed it would be
about on par with Goosebumps but it’s actually quite a bite heavier than I
expected. Still, it was a lot of fun and a great palate cleanser after some of
the darker books I’ve read this summer.
Megan Abbott's Dare
Me is also set in the competitive
world of cheerleading. While there is nary an evil spirit to be found there are
similar themes to The First Evil : friendship, pressure to succeed, the
sometimes cutthroat world of teen girls and their alliances to name a few.
Despite The First Evil dealing with malevolent, otherworldly entities, Dare
Me is actually much, much darker. Its darkness comes from the real life
problems its characters face whether it’s an eating disorder or downright cruelty
from their supposed “friends”. Even their new coach, who is only in her late
twenties and still a bit of a mess herself, is not above a biting remark at the
expense of her charges’ self-esteem. Let me say upfront that these girls (and
their coach) are terrible, terrible people with whom I would never want to
associate with in real life. They’re manipulative, petty, and unrelenting. And
they are really, really fun to read about.
When
the cheerleading squad gets a new coach Captain Beth is not ready to relinquish control. Their old coach basically let Beth
have free reign but Coach Collette French is not having it. This, of course,
does not sit well with the captain. Our narrator Addy, and Beth’s second in
command, knows just how far Beth will go to get what she wants. Like gossip
about people you barely know, you are horrified by what these girls do and say
but you can’t wait to find out what they’ll do next. I can’t recommend this one
enough especially for those who enjoy the works of Gillian Flynn or just
anti-heroines in general. I really enjoy Megan Abbott’s writing, and I look
forward to diving into her other books.
I
couldn’t help imagining a mother/daughter book club where a mother reads Dare
Me and her daughter reads The First Evil. Dare Me felt like a
natural extension of The First Evil – R.L. Stine is great for kids but
then they grow up and realize real life has just as many terrors
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