Big Mouth & Ugly Girl
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Gr. 8-up. Matt Donaghy's big mouth gets him a three-day suspension when «unnamed witnesses» allege that the Rocky River High School junior has threatened to bomb the school if his play isn't accepted for the Spring Arts Festival. Fortunately, his classmate Ursula Rigg, who calls herself «Ugly Girl,» heard what he really said, and despite her parents' reservations, demonstrates the courage to come to his defense. An awkward friendship between the two self-styled misfits begins to develop but is threatened when Matt's parents sue the school system for slander. Distinguished novelist Oates' first young adult novel is a thought-provoking, character-driven drama about the climate of hysteria created by school violence in America, and how two teenagers find the courage to fight it and to find themselves in the process. Ursula, who tells her part of the story in an edgy, often angry first-person voice, appears at first to be the more interesting character, but Matt, whose story unfolds in the third person, gradually emerges as a sweetly engaging, multidimensional character in his own right. His aching loneliness will break readers' hearts. This title is also being published simultaneously in audio and e-book versions. Michael Cart.

A high school junior leaps to her classmate's defense when his throwaway joke about blowing up the school makes him a suspected terrorist. "The relationship between the two grows credibly and compellingly, against a convincing high school backdrop," said PW in a starred review. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 8 Up-While horsing around in the high school cafeteria, Matt Donaghy makes some remarks that land him in a world of trouble. Yanked out of fifth-period study hall by plainclothes policemen, he learns that he's suspected of plotting to bomb the school. In this day and age that's no joking matter. His friends are advised by their parents not to get involved, lest they fall under suspicion themselves. Only the resolutely individualistic, somewhat frightening Ursula Riggs, a girl he barely knows, is willing to speak up on Matt's behalf. With a combination of clear-sightedness and bravado she gets the principal to rethink Matt's suspension-and that's just the beginning of Oates's novel. The next three-quarters of the book become even more interesting, as the author explores the subsequent social pressures placed on the teenagers and adults in a fictitious, affluent suburb of New York City. Oates has a good ear for the speech, the family relations, the e-mail messaging, the rumor mills, and the easy cruelties waiting just beneath the veneer of civility. Matt's character and especially the heroic Ursula's are depicted with a raw honesty. Readers will be propelled through these pages by an intense curiosity to learn how events will play out. Oates has written a fast-moving, timely, compelling story.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(High School) Matt Donaghy never did threaten to blow up the school, but his reputation as a wise-ass makes his protests of innocence unconvincing. And basketball team captain Ursula Riggs knows she didn't blow the game-losing foul shot on purpose, but she thinks the team and coach blame her for the loss. These misunderstood high-school juniors eventually begin to discover themselves through their friendship in this you-and-me-against-the-world romance. While the plot and high school scene-setting each have their boilerplate moments, Oates's gift for telling dialogue is also in evidence, as in a Kafkaesque scene in which Matt, being interrogated about his alleged plans by overeager police detectives, finds his mouth digging him in deeper: ""If I had, I wouldn't tell you about it, would I?"" Ursula has the less flashy of the two plot lines, but she's the more vivid of the two protagonists and, narrating her side of the story, is brash and irresistible, sister to Joan Bauer's big-girl heroines or Sherri L. Smith's Lucy the Giant (rev. 3/02). Matt is lucky to have her on his side. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

A seasoned pro from the world of adult literature turns her keen observer's eye to young-adult realism, with notable success. Big Mouth is Matt Donaghy, and when the reader first meets him, he is being led from class under police escort, having been overheard in the cafeteria threatening to blow up the school. Ugly Girl is Ursula Riggs, athletic and alienated, and she is the only student who understands instantly that the terrorism accusations against Matt are wholly baseless and is willing to act to clear him. Thus begins a friendship that develops as Matt sinks further and further into depression with the realization that his friends were all too willing to abandon him and as Ursula allows herself to relinquish the safe distance she's always kept. Oates effectively evokes the culture of high school, where association is everything and rumor almost always preferable to truth. By beginning the tale with Matt's accusation, she leaves herself room for a leisurely exploration of the personal and social repercussions on the kids, on the school, and on the families. The narrative moves back and forth from third person to first person as it tells Matt's and Ursula's stories, respectively. Ursula herself is an effectively drawn character, a girl who feels such a need to defend herself from the world of conformity that she has created an alter-ego she refers to in the third person: "I wiped at my eyes, annoyed that they were wet. It must've been caused by the March wind off the river for Ugly Girl doesn't cry." If Matt isn't quite so effectively presented by comparison and if some of the secondary characters are so underdeveloped as to be stock, the story itself and the way it unfolds is compelling enough to override these details. Honest and penetrating. (Fiction. YA)

/*Starred Review*/ Gr. 8-up. Matt Donaghy's big mouth gets him a three-day suspension when "unnamed witnesses" allege that the Rocky River High School junior has threatened to bomb the school if his play isn't accepted for the Spring Arts Festival. Fortunately, his classmate Ursula Rigg, who calls herself "Ugly Girl," heard what he really said, and despite her parents' reservations, demonstrates the courage to come to his defense. An awkward friendship between the two self-styled misfits begins to develop but is threatened when Matt's parents sue the school system for slander. Distinguished novelist Oates' first young adult novel is a thought-provoking, character-driven drama about the climate of hysteria created by school violence in America, and how two teenagers find the courage to fight it and to find themselves in the process. Ursula, who tells her part of the story in an edgy, often angry first-person voice, appears at first to be the more interesting character, but Matt, whose story unfolds in the third person, gradually emerges as a sweetly engaging, multidimensional character in his own right. His aching loneliness will break readers' hearts. This title is also being published simultaneously in audio and e-book versions. ((Reviewed May 15, 2002)) Copyright 2002 Booklist Reviews

Believable, full-blooded characters propel Oates's first YA novel past some plotting that doesn't quite add up. Ursula Riggs, a high school junior, has adopted a stance of invincible indifference ("Since that day I woke up and knew I wasn't an ugly girl, I was Ugly Girl"). Against her mother's wishes, she leaps to her classmate Matt Donaghy's defense when his throwaway joke about blowing up the school makes him a suspected terrorist, but then rebuffs Matt's overtures to friendship. Told in alternating perspectives (Ursula's in first-person and Matt's in third), the novel intensifies even though Matt is quickly exonerated. Matt's friends ice him out, citing pressure from their parents, and his family receives hate mail. When Matt's family files suit against the school and his accusers, the hostilities escalate, and Matt nearly attempts suicide (Ursula, again in the right place at the right time, saves him once more). In turn, Matt helps Ursula realize that her Ugly Girl persona "wasn't right for all occasions." The weak spots here have to do with the villains (including the students who reported Matt's "joke" and those who bully him); they are barely developed, and stereotypes seem to have taken the place of their motivation. But the relationship between Ursula and Matt grows, credibly and compellingly, against a convincing high school backdrop. Readers will relate to the pressures these two experience, both at school and from their parents, and be gratified by their ability to emerge the wiser. Ages 13-up. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

A high school junior leaps to her classmate's defense when his throwaway joke about blowing up the school makes him a suspected terrorist. "The relationship between the two grows credibly and compellingly, against a convincing high school backdrop," said PW in a starred review. Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Gr 8 Up-While horsing around in the high school cafeteria, Matt Donaghy makes some remarks that land him in a world of trouble. Yanked out of fifth-period study hall by plainclothes policemen, he learns that he's suspected of plotting to bomb the school. In this day and age that's no joking matter. His friends are advised by their parents not to get involved, lest they fall under suspicion themselves. Only the resolutely individualistic, somewhat frightening Ursula Riggs, a girl he barely knows, is willing to speak up on Matt's behalf. With a combination of clear-sightedness and bravado she gets the principal to rethink Matt's suspension-and that's just the beginning of Oates's novel. The next three-quarters of the book become even more interesting, as the author explores the subsequent social pressures placed on the teenagers and adults in a fictitious, affluent suburb of New York City. Oates has a good ear for the speech, the family relations, the e-mail messaging, the rumor mills, and the easy cruelties waiting just beneath the veneer of civility. Matt's character and especially the heroic Ursula's are depicted with a raw honesty. Readers will be propelled through these pages by an intense curiosity to learn how events will play out. Oates has written a fast-moving, timely, compelling story.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.