Trinkets

Three different high school girls meet in a Shoplifters Anonymous group and become unlikely friends. Popular Tabitha, Bad Girl Moe and Good Girl Elodie are typical tropes with unoriginal more than meets the eye stories in this predictable story by Kristen Kiwi Smith.TRINKETS reads like an uninspired After School Special from the 1970s, though tweens and older MG readers might enjoy what’s supposed to be a young adult book.Smith’s adequate writing kept me interested and the characters were likable enough, although TRINKETS lacked substance.TRINKETS isn’t enough of a cautionary tale to recommend to kids who shoplift, in fact I’d steer them away from this story that barely p scratches the surfaces of reasons kids steal.

Trinkets are items that are shoplifted to raise the spirit. Our three narrators have been remanded to Shoplifter's Anonymous for their beliefs in action. They are an unlikely trio with sadness and pain. Moe is a girl whose parents died and who has accepted the thug role by default. Her next door neighbor is a popular boy who visits her at night but does not acknowledge her during the day. Elodie is unsure of herself. She feels alone, although she is friends with a popular girl by default. Her mother has died and she isn't so sure about her stepmother. Tabitha is the princess. "Everyone secretly hates a princess."This a charming YA novel. As such, the plot comes together a bit too neatly for me. But the writing is lively and witty, and the characters convince us that the plot is not unlikely. Each of the three girls has behavior that is unlovely at times. they all three suffer from the high school disorder of feeling fraudulent and alone within their chosen roles. The device of shoplifting is cleverly developed. I enjoyed the book far more than I thought that I might. It made for a pleasant couple of hours, and it resonated in many well phrased scenes.

Kirsten Smith’s Trinkets achieves an unexpected feat. I didn’t ever expect to sympathize with shoplifting Portland teen girls, but I did. Not only that, I full-on fell in love with the quasi-criminal trio— with their distinct voices, their shameless pop dance parties, and the wonderfully unlikely development of their friendship.The respect Smith has for the struggles/turmoil/realities of life as a teenage girl and the way she portrays them with such remarkable authenticity never ceases to awe me. I often forget what it felt like to be that age, but as soon as I dove into the inner worlds of Elodie, Moe, and Tabitha, I was there. Some of my favorite lines--On crushes: "I'll just sit here and think about how much it sucks we can't hang out and how much I hate him even though I don’t.” AGH! SO REAL.On friendship: "I should be able to tell them the sky is magenta or whatever, and they should believe me." PREACH.On painted toenails: “Little blue smurf turds.” (Had to include that one because it made me laugh so hard and felt exactly like something one of my best friends would say.)This book is like Voodoo Donuts— delicious, devourable, and utterly unique.

Good read

This is a great read. Teens, especially would like it of course, but parents, too, would enjoy the story, maybe even more so, and perhaps gain some insight into how teens think. It really was a quick read for me, kept pulling me along to read more and difficult to put down.

I loved the relationship between all of the characters. My favorite thing about this book is the diary style writing. It’s so personal. I love Tabitha.

Three young women, entirely unique and so authentic. This story is at times really touching, super funny and truly representative of this crazy, figure-it-out time of your life. I hope every cool girl (and boy) in the world gets their mitts on this book. Please don't steal it, however!

I loved this book. I enjoyed the viewpoint from each one of the characters and how they were all intertwined. I suggest this to everyone