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Teen Fiction - Body, Mind & Health, Teen Fiction - Choices & Transitions, Teen Fiction - Girls & Young Women, Teen Fiction - School, Teen Fiction - Romance & Friendship
Trinkets by Kirsten Smith — book cover

Trinkets

by Kirsten Smith
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Overview

Sixteen-year-old Moe's Shoplifters Anonymous meetings are usually punctuated by the snores of an old man and the whining of the world's unhappiest housewife. Until the day that Tabitha Foster and Elodie Shaw walk in. Tabitha has just about everything she wants: money, friends, popularity, a hot boyfriend who worships her...and clearly a yen for stealing. So does Elodie, who, despite her goodie-two-shoes attitude pretty much has "klepto" written across her forehead in indelible marker. But both of them are nothing compared to Moe, a bad girl with an even worse reputation.

Tabitha, Elodie, and Moe: a beauty queen, a wallflower, and a burnout-a more unlikely trio high school has rarely seen. And yet, when Tabitha challenges them to a steal-off, so begins a strange alliance linked by the thrill of stealing and the reasons that spawn it.

Hollywood screenwriter Kirsten Smith tells this story from multiple perspectives with humor and warmth as three very different girls who are supposed to be learning the steps to recovery end up learning the rules of friendship.

About the Author, Kirsten Smith

Kirsten Smith began writing poetry while attending Occidental College but has made a career out of writing screenplays. Her screenwriting and producing credits include 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The House Bunny, She's the Man, and Whip It. She is the author of The Geography of Girlhood and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Eleventh graders Elodie, Tabitha, and Moe all attend Lake Oswego High, but burnout Moe and new girl Elodie are way below alpha girl Tabitha’s notice. Soon, though, they have something in common: after being caught shoplifting, Elodie and Tabitha are remanded to the counseling program Moe’s already in. Smith shifts among the three girls’ distinctive viewpoints: Tabitha is becoming skeptical about her lacrosse-star boyfriend and clothing—and looks-obsessed friends; tough girl Moe yearns for the neighbor boy who only likes her when no one’s around; and Elodie writes in a free-verse narrative that’s literary without being precious, a style Smith used in The Geography of Girlhood. The girls’ unlikely friendship starts with a contest to see who can boost the best stuff and develops as they find that they share more than the understanding that, as Elodie says, “a stolen present/ means way more than one that’s been bought/ because of what you had to go through to get it.” The plot lines converge a bit too neatly, but it’s a small flaw in this funny, smart, and perceptive book. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)

Tavi Gevinson

"I want to build a shrine to this book. It explores and debunks high school clichés, and understands the language only teenage feelings speak. Its three narrators make a unique story not only exciting to experience vicariously, but relatable. It will sit on my shelf next to a My So-Called Life boxset and copies of The Virgin Suicides and Girl, Interrupted."

Anna Farris

"Hilarious and wise, Trinkets brought me straight back to those hellish days of high school. I fell in love with these three girls—their individual struggles are so real and wonderfully touching."

Ellen Page

"I am not surprised that Kiwi Smith, once again, has written something so insightful, sensitive and, of course, funny. Trinkets is a beautiful creation. It is raw and full of heart, honest and open. Never has someone described the phenomena of 'mirror faces' more perfectly. I am grateful for that."

Victoria Justice

"Trinkets is a sweet, funny, edgy novel...imagine The Breakfast Club with girls and shoplifting. I absolutely loved it."

Kirkus Reviews

Collecting stolen loot leads to collecting friends. Shy transfer student Elodie, popular "princess" Tabitha and tough-looking, "burnout" Moe (short for Maureen) cross paths unexpectedly when each is forced to complete a 12-week Shoplifters Anonymous program. Hiding their association by day among their clique-driven social circles, the three high school juniors secretly meet outside of their Portland, Ore., school to brag and compare notes about their pilfered swag. In the process of learning about their shoplifting addiction, Elodie, Tabitha and Moe discover they have even more in common when it comes to family, relationships, sexuality, body image and self-esteem problems. Smith gives each young woman a distinct voice, emphasized through Elodie's verse form, Tabitha's prose and Moe's diary entries. As they become less concerned with appearance and more interested in filling the voids in their lives with healthy choices, the teens make their unconventional friendship public. Although the storyline is predictable from the start, a few slight twists, realistic encounters, romances all around and a just-right ending will make this a hit with fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, Elizabeth Scott and other venerable chick-lit authors. (Chick lit. 14 & up)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Burnout Moe, Queen Bee Tabitha, and Nice Girl Elodie all have different reasons to shoplift. Besides all going to the same high school, their Shoplifters Anonymous meetings are the only thing they have in common. Initially, they get together to prove who is the best thief. Eventually, the girls bond on their stealing sprees and become friends. The narrative shifts among the girls' voices, each section only a few pages long. Moe speaks in short paragraphs, Tabitha in longer ones, Elodie in verse. Readers are shown why each teen steals, but the psychology behind kleptomania is not overexplained, and the author doesn't preach about its evils. In the end, none of the teens take their program seriously, but the friendship they forge acts as a type of group therapy, allowing them to come to peace with the things in their lives that drive their behavior and the need for the rush of excitement that comes with not getting caught. With different glimpses of high school life, some romance for each character, and family drama that doesn't overwhelm the plot, Trinkets is a quick and entertaining read.—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

Book Details

Published
March 12, 2013
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages
278
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780316160278

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