Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Summary and Reviews of Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials

by Rosalind Wiseman

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2010, 288 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

Looking for a new beginning after a terrible mean girl past, Charlie Healey realizes there’s no escaping high school drama.

Charlie Healey thinks Harmony Falls is the beginning of a whole new life. Middle school was brutal. But high school is Charlie's big chance to start over and stay out of drama, except that on her first day she runs into Will, her ex–best friend, who had moved away. Now a varsity athlete and hotter than Charlie remembered, Will hangs with the crowd running the school. But Charlie doesn’t understand their power until an innocent delivery guy falls victim to a near-deadly hazing prank.

Torn between doing what's right and her secret feelings for Will, Charlie must decide whether to turn in her very best friend or live with the guilt of knowing what he did.

Rosalind Wiseman's first novel for young adults is a fresh, funny, and juicy read about friendship, betrayal, and how far some will go to be accepted.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"....although some of the plot particulars and her first-person narrative...are sometimes more reminiscent of high school sitcoms than real life ... Wiseman has created an honest story of the convoluted workings of teenage friendships and relationships. Ages 12–up." - Publishers Weekly

"The story reads like a public-service announcement on the hazards of hazing... But Charlie and her friends are outspoken and engaging..." - Kirkus Reviews

"While high school can seem 'life and death' dramatic, Wiseman reveals the nasty business of bullying and the ugly (sometimes life-threatening) turns that questing for acceptance can take." - School Library Journal

"A must-read! Funny as well as painfully familiar. I really wish I'd had this book as an incoming high school freshman." - Meg Cabot

"Rosalind Wiseman once again writes with humor, compassion and accuracy about the high school experience. You can't put this book down... or it will talk about you while you're out of the room." - Tina Fey

This information about Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Kayla Barker

Boys Girls and other hazardous material
Amazing.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Rosalind Wiseman Author Biography

Photo © Linda Badami

Rosalind Wiseman has had only one job since graduating from college—to help communities shift the way we think about children and teens' emotional and physical well-being. As a teacher, thought leader, author, and media spokesperson on bullying, ethical leadership, the use of social media, and media literacy, she is in constant dialogue and collaboration with educators, parents, children, and teens.

She is the author of Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World—the groundbreaking, best-selling book that was the basis for the movie Mean Girls. Her latest book, Masterminds & Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World was ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Rosalind Wiseman's Website

Name Pronunciation
Rosalind Wiseman: wize-men

Other books by Rosalind Wiseman at BookBrowse
  • Queen Bees & Wannabes jacket
  • Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more YA literary fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket: The Women
    The Women
    by Kristin Hannah
    Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wide Wide Sea
    The Wide Wide Sea
    by Hampton Sides
    By 1775, 48-year-old Captain James Cook had completed two highly successful voyages of discovery and...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.