Here Lies Bridget

                                                
Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison

Publication Date: 1-18-2011

Young Adult, Ages 13+
ISBN-13: 978-1-373-21028-2 used for review.
Personal Ranking 3/3.5 out of 5

"What do you do when the five people you meet
in limbo all want you to go to hell?"

Bridget Duke has it all; a famous father, loyal followers and the rule of the school. Then the new girl threatens to destroy the balance of her power. The whole school seems caught in Anna’s spell, which seems to zap all of Bridget’s control. Now that everything seems to be going wrong for Bridget, and being expelled from school seems like an all too possible reality, in a desperate moment she ditches school and ends up crashing her car into a tree. But could this situation possible get any worse? If waking up dead wasn’t bad enough, Bridget wakes up to face the five people she has hurt that mean the most to her. But will her last chance at redemption be enough?

It has been a while since I’ve written a review of an already published book. But about halfway through reading here lies Bridget, I knew that I had to. As soon as I saw the title on the Richmond Public Schools High School summer reading list, I was curious. Then a few weeks later when I was creating the “What do I read?” chart, I knew that I would have to read it!

Bridget is the queen bee that every school has and everyone hates. Kinda like Regina George in Mean Girls, she is completely aware of her power and rules by fear of both the teachers and fellow students. As you get to know Bridget in the days leading up to her death, you realize that she has lost her true friends, her boyfriend and has caused untold amounts of trauma to those around her. While you don’t find yourself wishing she would die, you do want her to learn from her mistakes and make things right. In the end, I do believe that she got what she deserved. She learned a valuable lesson that many teenagers today would greatly benefit from. Your actions have consequences, even indirectly. All too often, this lesson is learned the hard way, just like how Bridget learned it in the end.

This is one of those books that you wish every bully and queen bee would read. I would love to use it as a teen book club selection. Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to participate in some really great book discussions at some of our neighborhood high schools. Based on all the themes in this book, I would love to hear what they would have to say about Bridget, her actions and the resulting punishment.