Sugar Rush

Burchill, Julie

3.29

1,238 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 006077620X ISBN 13: 9780060776206

Publisher: HarperTempest, 2005

"Oh, I,m not your friend." My savior looked surprised. "It's just that this is MY school. I'm Maria Sweet -- Sugar. If you get bullied, it'll be when I say so."

When Kim has to transfer from her posh school to Ravendene Comprehensive, the notoriously violent local school, she's scared -- but then she meets Maria Sweet, better known as Sugar. Sugar is beautiful and wild, the queen bee of Ravendene, and Kim falls under her spell.

They're gorgeous party girls, envied and admired by everyone. But as Kim leaves her good-girl past far behind, she realizes she's falling in love -- with her best friend.

Funny, sexy, and provocative, this is a compulsively readable first novel for young adults by Britain's most famous and controversial journalist.

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About the Author:

Julie Burchill has been a celebrated and controversial journalist since the age of seventeen. She has worked for or contributed to most of the major newspapers and magazines in the United Kingdom, the United States, and continental Europe. She has written novels and nonfiction, including, among other titles, her autobiography, I Knew I Was Right ; Diana, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales; and Burchill on Beckham, a biography of soccer phenomenon David Beckham. She has written a frequently controversial column for first "The Guardian" and now "The Times" in the United Kingdom. Sugar Rush is her first novel for young adults.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 9 Up–Kim lives in Brighton, England, with her father and younger brother, Matt; her mother has left them for a younger man and lives in the Caribbean. Kim's voice is authentic teenage, dealing with uncertainty and issues, and with her attraction to superachiever Zoe. Money runs out and Kim must go to a rough-and-tumble local school, leaving Zoe behind. There she meets Maria Sweet, a wild, impulsive Top Girl who tests all limits. Kim and Maria link, indulge themselves in liquor and drugs, and sample with abandon a lesbian relationship. Maria, known as Sugar, betrays Kim and their budding relationship to experiment sexually with men. And Kim somehow picks up the pieces of life and goes on. This is an excellent coming-of-age story that deals with the thoughts and emotions of a girl coming to terms with being lesbian, and also with accepting herself for who she is and not being enamored of the strong personalities around her. British teenage slang will slow American readers down a bit, but not for long, for the dialogue is authentic teen banter. This is a solid addition for most YA collections. All young people need good stories of teen relationships that will help them make their way on the rocky road of growing up.–Alice DiNizo, Plainfield Public Schools, NJ
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