A gay suburban hip-hopper freaks out her Christian high school - and falls in love - in this righteously funny and totally tender YA debut, for ...
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Jan 05, 2012
Katya
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Cross-posted with my
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Sister Mischief is one of those books that only comes once in a while - a book about identity that, instead of making universal statements, focuses on individuality.
Have I mentioned that I love character-driven novels? Well, I do. And as far as characterization goes, this book doesn't fail to deliver - our protagonist, Esme, and her friends Rowie, Tessa and Marcy are a group of hip-hop loving, open-minded seventeen-year old girls, who stri More...
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Sister Mischief is one of those books that only comes once in a while - a book about identity that, instead of making universal statements, focuses on individuality.
Have I mentioned that I love character-driven novels? Well, I do. And as far as characterization goes, this book doesn't fail to deliver - our protagonist, Esme, and her friends Rowie, Tessa and Marcy are a group of hip-hop loving, open-minded seventeen-year old girls, who stri More...
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Aug 07, 2011
Paige
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Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker. I received a copy from the publishers through NetGalley.
Esme and her BFFs Marcy, Tess, and Rowie make up Sister Mischief, the fiercest undiscovered all-girl hip-hop group in the area. When not working on rhymes and practicing, they hang out and bug the crap out of each other the way only best friends can. When the principal of their school in wealthy SWASP suburb Holyhill makes a rule against hip-hop at school because it "incites violence More...
Esme and her BFFs Marcy, Tess, and Rowie make up Sister Mischief, the fiercest undiscovered all-girl hip-hop group in the area. When not working on rhymes and practicing, they hang out and bug the crap out of each other the way only best friends can. When the principal of their school in wealthy SWASP suburb Holyhill makes a rule against hip-hop at school because it "incites violence More...
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Jul 31, 2011
Laura
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After reading several very positive early reviews, I’ve been waiting to get my grubby little paws of this book. Well worth it!
This is very much a character-driven book, and as a result, I loved Esme. She feels like a natural narrator, and I really felt her anger and frustration about her life through her words. Esme doesn’t have the right answers, she screws up with her friends, and at the end, she still feels like someone trying to find her way. I could really tell how much hip-hop More...
This is very much a character-driven book, and as a result, I loved Esme. She feels like a natural narrator, and I really felt her anger and frustration about her life through her words. Esme doesn’t have the right answers, she screws up with her friends, and at the end, she still feels like someone trying to find her way. I could really tell how much hip-hop More...
May 21, 2011
Sara
rated it: 
Received from Netgalley.
Summary: Listen up: You’re about to get rocked by the fiercest, baddest all-girl hip-hop crew in the Twin Cities - or at least in the wealthy, white, Bible-thumping suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. Our heroine, Esme Rockett (aka MC Ferocious) is a Jewish lesbian lyricist. In her crew, Esme’s got her BFFs Marcy (aka DJ SheStorm, the butchest straight girl in town) and Tess (aka The ConTessa, the pretty, popular powerhouse of a vocalist). But Esme’s feelings for h More...
Summary: Listen up: You’re about to get rocked by the fiercest, baddest all-girl hip-hop crew in the Twin Cities - or at least in the wealthy, white, Bible-thumping suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. Our heroine, Esme Rockett (aka MC Ferocious) is a Jewish lesbian lyricist. In her crew, Esme’s got her BFFs Marcy (aka DJ SheStorm, the butchest straight girl in town) and Tess (aka The ConTessa, the pretty, popular powerhouse of a vocalist). But Esme’s feelings for h More...
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May 01, 2011
Ceilidh
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I’m really not a hip-hop fan and, despite the prospect of a quirky, funny and diverse LGBT love story, I was hesitant to read “Sister Mischief” because of worries over cultural appropriation and such. However, by the end of this book, I was ready to apologise to it for ever doubting how good it would be. This review may not be the most objective thing I’ve ever written. Sometimes a book comes along that you completely fall in love with, even though you know it’s not perfect and you know not ever
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Jan 19, 2012
Terri
rated it: 
"Sister Mischief" by Laura Goode is a tough one, literally and figuratively. I came to the book willingly - a Minnesota setting, a book for our LGBTQ kids, an author with Minnesota connections - it's got to be good. Right? Unfortunately, it turns out that I had a hard time getting through this one.
Protagonist Esme Rockett is not very likable from page one - she is tough. She is in your face with her language, her opinions, her anger, her choices. Sometimes she is as judgmen More...
Protagonist Esme Rockett is not very likable from page one - she is tough. She is in your face with her language, her opinions, her anger, her choices. Sometimes she is as judgmen More...
Jul 20, 2011
Isamlq
rated it:
Theirs are individual, highly original and strong voices. And they’re funny! Throw in a couple of surprising moment of sweet…and this is me, hours later, contemplating a re-read. First of, I don’t get hip hop, but their early discussions on its origins, white/black/blue/red etc and ‘white guilt’ were hilarious and made perfect sense to me. They put into words the questions I had. All I will say is that SISTER MISCHIEF is clever in tackling the subject. Then throw in some politics, religion, a jo
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Jul 31, 2011
T.
rated it:
I won this through the GoodReads First Reads program. It arrived on 20 July 2011.
First apology: This took me longer to read than I intended. I had a family member in palliative care, so my July was very chaotic. Rest assured, I wanted to read this book faster, but circumstances just didn't allow it.
Second apology: I admittedly don't know much about hip-hop. I know of some of the major artists, a few of the cultural issues, but that's it. So I'm sorry that I can't comment more More...
First apology: This took me longer to read than I intended. I had a family member in palliative care, so my July was very chaotic. Rest assured, I wanted to read this book faster, but circumstances just didn't allow it.
Second apology: I admittedly don't know much about hip-hop. I know of some of the major artists, a few of the cultural issues, but that's it. So I'm sorry that I can't comment more More...
Jul 20, 2011
Andrea
rated it:
The Little Bookworm
Plot: I could see this as movie. It would be a great Disney type movie except for the cursing and lesbians. And, while you might be able to lose the cursing, the lesbian part is a big part of why this book works in a different way from the standard YA love story. Music is hard to read on paper and rarely comes through so while I could picture the girls rapping and singing I couldn't really "hear" it. But the message comes across pretty well despite the discr More...
Plot: I could see this as movie. It would be a great Disney type movie except for the cursing and lesbians. And, while you might be able to lose the cursing, the lesbian part is a big part of why this book works in a different way from the standard YA love story. Music is hard to read on paper and rarely comes through so while I could picture the girls rapping and singing I couldn't really "hear" it. But the message comes across pretty well despite the discr More...
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Aug 11, 2011
Sophie
rated it:
I was really excited when I picked up this book. It sounded awesome. And there were a few moments of awesomeness in it. Overall, however, I was disappointed. Since this is my first negative reviews I'll try to go into a bit more detail than my "I loved it!" reviews.
The good:
The premise: Two members of an all-female hip-hop group from suburban Minnesota fall in love while fighting unjust authority at school? How awesome is that?
Minor characters More...
The good:
The premise: Two members of an all-female hip-hop group from suburban Minnesota fall in love while fighting unjust authority at school? How awesome is that?
Minor characters More...
Sep 25, 2011
Lynette
rated it:
I liked this a lot more than I expected to when I started it, when I wasn't sure if the conversations about the ethics of white suburban girls doing hip-hop or being a Christian who isn't an asshole were being slotted in just to get them out of the way. But they definitely weren't. This is an Issue Book, but it's about a hell of a lot of issues - queerness, faith, family, friends, the First Amendment, hip-hop, immigration, and that isn't even half of the issues the book touched on. Maybe it's a
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Feb 16, 2012
Catherine
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 03, 2011
Crowinator
rated it:
My kneejerk reaction: I really didn't want to read this because they used the word "bidness" and the word "illest" in the same sentence on the back of my ARC.
Actual reaction: I love this book no shit. Even though it made me feel old.
Review later.
Actual reaction: I love this book no shit. Even though it made me feel old.
Review later.
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Sep 04, 2011
Liralen
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I loved this book, and I wish it -- or books like it -- had been around when I was in high school. The characters are wonderfully complex, not to mention flawed, and the situations they find themselves in are realistic enough to be believable but unlikely enough to keep me reading. Esme in particular is relatable, and oy, I know I have a tendency to rail against unnecessary sequels, but I hope Laura Goode keeps writing.
Well, maybe not a sequel. But more awesome lgbtq books, yeah?
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Well, maybe not a sequel. But more awesome lgbtq books, yeah?
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Sep 07, 2011
Kricket
rated it:
i just read an excerpt from this on amazon and started cracking up at the reference desk. can't wait until the order gets in!
update: really liked this. but what's not to like about four badass teenage girls protesting their high school's anti hip-hop policy by starting a combination GSA and hip-hop discussion group? tess, marcy, rowie & our main character the fearless esme also perform as "sister mischief" at various open-mic nights. esme has only recently come out to her f More...
update: really liked this. but what's not to like about four badass teenage girls protesting their high school's anti hip-hop policy by starting a combination GSA and hip-hop discussion group? tess, marcy, rowie & our main character the fearless esme also perform as "sister mischief" at various open-mic nights. esme has only recently come out to her f More...
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Dec 09, 2011
Renata
rated it:
This book reminded me of David Levithan's YA stuff, in these girls are way too smart and well-spoken to resemble real teenagers in any way. They all talk like they are in a graduate level women's studies seminar at all times. Which is fine--I love reading sassy teen girls talk about representations of sexuality in hip hop. (I love David Levithan's overly-educated teenagers, too.)
The friendship between the members of Sister Mischief, an all-girl hip-hop crew in suburban Minnesota, felt More...
The friendship between the members of Sister Mischief, an all-girl hip-hop crew in suburban Minnesota, felt More...
Sep 27, 2011
Amy
rated it:
For a more in-depth review and more, check out http://vivaladolcevita14.blogspot.com/
Ok, so I've FINALLY had a chance to read this book. I had some issues with my NetGalley copy, being that after I transferred it from Adobe to my Nook, it wouldn't open and apparently didn't exist *facepalm* So I decided to let my time with it run out and ended up buying the Nook copy. I'm glad I've finally read this book.
I loved this book. It captures the essence of being a teenager perfectly More...
Ok, so I've FINALLY had a chance to read this book. I had some issues with my NetGalley copy, being that after I transferred it from Adobe to my Nook, it wouldn't open and apparently didn't exist *facepalm* So I decided to let my time with it run out and ended up buying the Nook copy. I'm glad I've finally read this book.
I loved this book. It captures the essence of being a teenager perfectly More...
Jul 07, 2011
Clementine
rated it:
Esme Rockett is a Jewish lesbian white-girl living in the suburbs of Minneapolis. She’s obsessed with hip-hop, and she’s formed an all-girl hip-hop group with her best friends Marcy, Tess, and Rowie (who she’s also crushing on hardcore). When their Christian-dominated high school tries to ban hip-hop and the culture associated with it from school grounds, the girls decide to take matters into their own hands and form a gay-straight-hip-hop alliance. This move is met with resistance and strugg
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Sep 17, 2011
Rabiah
rated it:
Originally Posted at: http://iliveforreading.blogspot.com/2011...
**This Review is based on an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy). The final text and/or cover may be different.**
"We ride to get high, Minnesota-do-or-die
We talk shit and kick it, out bidness is the shiznet
Sot holler out out name, we're the illest Sister Mischief"
This book was fun and completely filled with raps and rhymes and that type of stuff. I don't usually listen to or consider More...
**This Review is based on an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy). The final text and/or cover may be different.**
"We ride to get high, Minnesota-do-or-die
We talk shit and kick it, out bidness is the shiznet
Sot holler out out name, we're the illest Sister Mischief"
This book was fun and completely filled with raps and rhymes and that type of stuff. I don't usually listen to or consider More...
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Nov 02, 2011
Sharon
rated it:
Despite the almost flamboyant eccentricity of the subject matter in Sister Mischief, the characters here really blew me away. I have a soft spot for coming-of-age YA novels because I'm always searching for that "high" of what it's like to be when you're younger and the world is so small but in that time period it's so large and yet conquerable. The combined force of the members of "Sister Mischief" was able to bring me back to those times, much like the camaraderie of the S
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Mar 24, 2011
Raquelle
rated it:
Sister Mischief is a very charming novel and you won't be able NOT to fall in love with the Jewish Lesbian teen protagonist Esme Ruth Rockett. Esme is a rapper at heart and she and her friends form Sister Mischief, a hip-hop group consistently entirely of an eclectic mix of teen girls. So much of Esme's circumstance is an anomaly. She is a lesbian hip-hopper minority in the middle of a very white Christian town in the American mid-west. Finding herself, her sexuality, her passion for hip-hop in
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Aug 04, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Esme, Tess, Rowie, and Marcy are typical high school juniors in most areas. They are good students with their eyes set on top-notch colleges. For the most part, they don't give their parents any grief, and they keep their noses clean in school. However, they do have one passion - and when school authorities declare that this passion is no longer to be allowed at school, the girls rebel.
Holyhill High More...
Esme, Tess, Rowie, and Marcy are typical high school juniors in most areas. They are good students with their eyes set on top-notch colleges. For the most part, they don't give their parents any grief, and they keep their noses clean in school. However, they do have one passion - and when school authorities declare that this passion is no longer to be allowed at school, the girls rebel.
Holyhill High More...
Aug 03, 2011
The Lonely book club
rated it:
Full review: The lonely book-club
The book is very light and easy to read, you get the hang of the story quite easily. It’s composed well and it’s not confusing. The small notes that are put in here and there “by” the protagonist is a bit annoying from time to time, but one gets used to them and they definitely adds to the “young” atmosphere the book tries to hold.
The characters differ from each other and it’s easy to see which character are which without having to look ba More...
The book is very light and easy to read, you get the hang of the story quite easily. It’s composed well and it’s not confusing. The small notes that are put in here and there “by” the protagonist is a bit annoying from time to time, but one gets used to them and they definitely adds to the “young” atmosphere the book tries to hold.
The characters differ from each other and it’s easy to see which character are which without having to look ba More...
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Jul 21, 2011
Anna
rated it:
Likely to date in < 1 min., and the author's definitely trying a tad to hard, BUT, it's also damn near impossible to not appreciate a suburban white chick (& 1 token "desi") rapping quartet who not only manage to mix kickin beats, but also to form a "Homos and Heteros for Hip-Hop" discussion group as a not so subtle finger to their straightlaced school / civil community.
I am woman, hear me roar! (yes, a high school principal actually told me that once. And, More...
I am woman, hear me roar! (yes, a high school principal actually told me that once. And, More...
Oct 09, 2011
I read 250 pages, which is more than half, but I wasn't compelled by the characters. They all read as merely their issues and not as fully fleshed characters worth pulling for. And when everyone is identified by their issue at hand, it's hard to buy where there's an issue about issues, period (that does make sense). For a book about an all chick hip hop band, there wasn't enough hip hop band in it.
Sep 29, 2011
Stedwards
rated it:
The world's first gay hip hop love story for teens (written by a friend of a friend, saw her read last night, if she comes to your town, GO). the girls in this novel speak a lot like i did at their age - full of doubt, big ideas, big authors and ambition for social change. i would give it to a teen any day - if i had read it i might have had more fluency dealing with sex overall/being different/glbtq specifically at that age.
Jun 17, 2011
Kerry of Musings of a bookworm
rated it: 
OK maybe I am old, but I struggled with the language and found the terminology used as frustrating as text speak. I think younger people i.e. well under 40, me being over 40, will love this. Ez is quirky and out spoken 2 things I like in a character but I couldn't read past the second chapter.
Oct 09, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
This book is basically perfect in every way. If you're like me and desperate to find books or movies with interesting, non-psychotic, non-weird-stereotype lesbians, look no further! A funny, touching, social-justice-winning, hard-rhyming work of art.
Oct 24, 2011
Amy
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book, being written by a local author about an area of town that everyone loves to hate, and all the while dealing with issues that are important to address.
The characters in this book were, for the most part, well done. But I felt like the story began to glaze over all their conflicts at rapid seed simply to come to a beneficial conclusion for the final chapter. I was left feeling like I had invested thought into these issues only to be brushed aside at th More...
The characters in this book were, for the most part, well done. But I felt like the story began to glaze over all their conflicts at rapid seed simply to come to a beneficial conclusion for the final chapter. I was left feeling like I had invested thought into these issues only to be brushed aside at th More...
