Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer

Publication Date: February 15, 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Meet Brooke: Popular, powerful and hating every minute of it, she’s the “It” girl at Douglas High in Lake Champion, Minnesota. Her real ambition? Using her operatic mezzo as a ticket back to NYC, where her family lived before her dad ran off with an up and coming male movie star.

Now meet Kathryn: An overachieving soprano with an underachieving savings account, she’s been a leper ever since Brooke punched her at a party junior year. For Kath, music is the key to a much-needed college scholarship.

The stage is set for a high-stakes duet between the two seniors as they prepare for the prestigious Blackmore competition. Brooke and Kathryn work toward the Blackmore with eyes not just on first prize but on one another, each still stinging from a past that started with friendship and ended in betrayal. With competition day nearing, Brooke dreams of escaping the in-crowd for life as a professional singer, but her scheming BFF Chloe has other plans. And when Kathryn gets an unlikely invitation to Homecoming, she suspects Brooke of trying to sabotage her with one last public humiliation.

As pressures mount, Brooke starts to sense that the person she hates most might just be the best friend she ever had. But Kathryn has a decision to make. Can she forgive? Or are some rivalries for life?

My Two Cents:

As I was reading this book I continuously kept saying "poor Kathryn". She really was just minding her own business and all of a sudden she's being invited to the sleepover that would change her life. Her and Brooke hit it off immediately because of their shared passion for singing. They were like two peas in a pod. Then, over a misunderstanding and plain old jealousy they become enemies.

I can't say I was crazy about Brooke. One minute she didn't want to be popular and just wanted to sing and swim. The next minute when it's convenient for her, she uses it to her advantage. Once Brooke feels that Kathryn betrayed her, she devotes her time to destroying her. For the longest time mousy little Kathryn is pretty much afraid to breathe too loud. Brooke turned the whole school against her. When is enough enough? Sooner or later the most mousy person has to stand up for themselves. I also love that the author didn't make the romance aspect extremely predictable. It was completely unexpected.

My favorite element in this book is the fact that these girls have real extracurricular activities. Brooke enjoys singing and swimming. Kathryn sings and she works on the school newspaper. I'm glad to see this since the arts are becoming a big part of schools.The author shows that not only teens have to deal with the pressures of honing their skills but also the normal sucky high school things on top of that. I can definitely relate, having danced my whole way through high school.

This was a fun, light read. This book is a mix between Glee and Mean Girls! I would recommend to any teen in the arts.

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