The Plain Janes (Minx)
by Cecil Castellucci
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Book Summary Information
Author: Cecil CastellucciIllustrator: Jim Rugg
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-02
ISBN: 1401211151
Number of pages: 176
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Minx
Book Reviews of The Plain Janes (Minx)
Book Review: Read the rest of the "Minx" line, but skip over this one.
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm a 25-year-old female comics fan, and I've been impressed with the "Minx" line [I've read "Re-Gifters", "Kimmie66", "Confessions of a Blabbermouth", "Good as Lily", and "Clubbing"]. I was really looking forward to "The Plain Janes", given my previous enjoyment of the rest of the line. I was sadly mistaken.
The biggest issue with "The Plain Janes" is that every character who is not the central character is completely one-dimensional. All of the adults are cardboard cut-outs who scream, freak out, and are otherwise completely unreasonable. The other students each have one particular trait [sporty, nerdy, theater geek, gay, good-looking, popular] and that's about it. Even the main character isn't terribly well-rounded, as all she seems to do is freak out, not freak out, and talk about how awesome it is that she's brought art to the obviously lacking suburb which she lives.
The pseudo-9/11 plot does nothing for this book except drag it down. It's overused to the point of being boring, and all it does is set up a couple of ridiculous scenes where Jane's mother yells at her, and then Jane acts surprised when she's grounded for sneaking out of the house and hitchhiking nine hours to check on a John Doe she writes to at the hospital.
This book needed a better writer. Mike Carey, who wrote "Confessions of a Blabbermouth" and "Re-Gifters" should have been given this book. He writes teenagers much more realistically than Cecil Castellucci and does so in a way that doesn't make the adults come off as horrible, useless things that are just out to stop the teenagers from having a good time.
Read the rest of the "Minx" line, or buy it for the teenage girl in your life, but let this one rot on the shelf.
Summary of The Plain Janes (Minx)
Noted young adult novelist Cecil Castellucci and artistJim Rugg launch MINX with THE PLAIN JANES, a storyabout four girls named Jane who sit at the reject table at lunch.When transfer student Jane is forced to move from the confines of MetroCity to Suburbia, she thinks her life is over.But there in the lunch roomat the reject table she finds her tribe: three other girls named Jane. MainJane encourages them to form a secret art gang and paint the townP.L.A.I.N. -- People Loving Art In Neighborhoods.But can art attacksreally save the hell that is high school?Teens Books
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