In 2004, Lisi Harrison’s The Clique series launched with its first book, which was aptly titled The Clique. The book brought the mean girls content that was so popular during this time period to the middle school set, introducing readers to a seventh grade queen bee named Massie Block, her gaggle of rich besties, and the new girl who she’s being forced to befriend. Alli didn’t read The Clique when she was growing up, and coming to it for the first time as an adult was an experience!

Tune in to Episode 76 to hear Alli and her guest discuss the mean girls cultural moment, why we love to read about wealth, the pure weirdness of middle school, the sexualization of tweens, the politics of school uniforms, middle schoolers in stilettos, creepy dads, the moral responsibility (or not!) of middle grade authors, and so much more.

This week, SSR welcomes Rachel Wainz to the show! Rachel works as digital manager at The Newsette and shares most of her reading, snacks, and NYC adventures on Instagram (@rachel.wainz).

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