Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Pan Macmillan (2006), 384 pages
Description
Class brain Bindy Mackenzie has alienated her entire high school but when she realizes someone is trying to kill her, she has to make friends in order to get help.
User reviews
LibraryThing member stephxsu
Jaclyn Moriarty is back with another story about her Australian Ashbury high-schoolers! Bindy Mackenzie is and has been the smartest, most talented girl in school. Year 11, however, starts badly as she is forced to take a Friendship and Development class with classmates she deems venomous and
It is only when Bindy reexamines her life that she begins to change. She is determined to look for the positive qualities of the people in her FAD group, no matter how hard it is or how much history they might have with one another. Meanwhile, Bindy’s having family problems. She’s living with her aunt and uncle, and her father, a single-minded successful property developer, doesn’t know that her younger brother Anthony is attending a drama school, paid for by their mother. Bindy’s also been feeling weak and apathetic lately, but refuses to go see a doctor about her symptoms. Nevertheless…could it be that someone is trying to murder her? How else can one explain her sudden bad grades and tiredness?
THE MURDER OF BINDY MACKENZIE is laden with Jaclyn Moriarty’s usual bunch of wacky incidents and outrageous premises. However, it works for the fun book. All of the characters are excellently developed. Through notes, diary entries, and Bindy’s extremely accurate transcripts, readers will grow to embrace Bindy and her FAD group as good friends. As with all of her previous books, Jaclyn Moriarty’s THE MURDER OF BINDY MACKENZIE is a real treat.
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stupid. What Bindy doesn’t realize is that her superior attitude is not earning her any new friends, and pretty soon nearly all of her FAD group has turned against her.It is only when Bindy reexamines her life that she begins to change. She is determined to look for the positive qualities of the people in her FAD group, no matter how hard it is or how much history they might have with one another. Meanwhile, Bindy’s having family problems. She’s living with her aunt and uncle, and her father, a single-minded successful property developer, doesn’t know that her younger brother Anthony is attending a drama school, paid for by their mother. Bindy’s also been feeling weak and apathetic lately, but refuses to go see a doctor about her symptoms. Nevertheless…could it be that someone is trying to murder her? How else can one explain her sudden bad grades and tiredness?
THE MURDER OF BINDY MACKENZIE is laden with Jaclyn Moriarty’s usual bunch of wacky incidents and outrageous premises. However, it works for the fun book. All of the characters are excellently developed. Through notes, diary entries, and Bindy’s extremely accurate transcripts, readers will grow to embrace Bindy and her FAD group as good friends. As with all of her previous books, Jaclyn Moriarty’s THE MURDER OF BINDY MACKENZIE is a real treat.
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LibraryThing member Lindsayg
I'm really liking Jaclyn Moriarty. She does that letter, diary entry style novel I enjoy so much. This one was hard to put down. It turned out to be not at all the book I thought it was going to be.
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
A reviewer from SLJ described the main character of this novel thusly: "Bindy is a perversely engaging protagonist." Truer words have not been spoken.
Bindy Mackenzie does not exactly have any friends. Maybe it's because she points out their flaws (in an effort to help them become better people, of
And then at some point in the book, Bindy begins to change... and you really find yourself rooting for her to make things better with her classmates. And then, of course, there's the fact that Bindy's being slowly murdered.......
It's a big, long book (possibly a bit too long) and the ending wraps itself up super quickly. But all in all it was entertaining and the unusual format kept it interesting. The entire novel is told in diary entries, memos, emails, transcripts, etc.
Bindy Mackenzie does not exactly have any friends. Maybe it's because she points out their flaws (in an effort to help them become better people, of
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course!) or maybe it's because she reported students who were downloading music from the school's internet or maybe it's because she'd rather study than party. Bindy is a cross between Millie from Freaks and Geeks and Paris from Gilmore Girls. And yet... through her diary and her musings, you begin to get the sense that maybe it's not all her fault that she's like this. Her parents have gone off to live in the city, leaving her with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Her father doesn't know the truth about her brother and Bindy is forced to lie to him. Bindy's been number one for so long that the pressure is really starting to get to her... And then at some point in the book, Bindy begins to change... and you really find yourself rooting for her to make things better with her classmates. And then, of course, there's the fact that Bindy's being slowly murdered.......
It's a big, long book (possibly a bit too long) and the ending wraps itself up super quickly. But all in all it was entertaining and the unusual format kept it interesting. The entire novel is told in diary entries, memos, emails, transcripts, etc.
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LibraryThing member michaele4kk
The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie is an intriguing book by Jaclyn Moriarty. Bindy is a normal teenage girl who has it all figured out, she holds a 99.9% grade average, and even shares the wealth with her fellow students by peer tutoring. When Bindy is forced to join a FAD (Friends and Developement
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Project) group that she doesn't see time for she is miffed. Who really wants to have to sit around and talk to a bunch of people that you'e way better than? Not Bindy Mackenzie. But Bindy never does anything half way. Through a lot of effort she forces herself to see on the same level as her peers and learns a good deal about herself that she never knew. Meanwhile Bindy is slowly being murdered and the FAD group bands together to find out who's behind this heinous crime in the process the students go from hating eachother to loving one another and Bindy learns the true meaning of friendship. The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie is a touching yet hilarious novel. The writng is very easy to understand and very intriguing as well. Show Less
LibraryThing member papersister
It took me a little while to get into this book. At first I thought Bindy wasn't that original of a character and it was just going to be about an overachieving girl who learns to not be so uptight. While that is a good chuck of it, there is so much more than meets the eye. On the surface, it is a
For most of the book I had no idea what the title or the inside flap had to do with the story I was reading. It wasn't until the end that everything made sense. Despite a slow start and a very quick ending this was a fun read. It took a little while for Bindy to grow on me, but now that she has, I'm hooked.
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story about Bindy and how she gets through her days. However, as the book continues there are hints at other things going on that are less than normal. At first you can just brush it off, but it slowly builds to an exciting ending, one that I definitely did not see coming. For most of the book I had no idea what the title or the inside flap had to do with the story I was reading. It wasn't until the end that everything made sense. Despite a slow start and a very quick ending this was a fun read. It took a little while for Bindy to grow on me, but now that she has, I'm hooked.
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LibraryThing member coffeeandtea
I finished this book today. I was satisfied with the complex twist at the end. However, I think the book was about 150 pages in excess. I also enjoyed Bindy's witty, overachieving character, her flaws, and the changes she made. I have not read the author's previous books, but I am open to going
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back and reading them. I probably should have read them first as they deal with Bindy. Settle in for a long, but relatively fast read, Show Less
LibraryThing member kmmsb459
Clever book.
LibraryThing member a-shelf-apart
Pacing was a bit meh here, took a while to get going and then the ending shot past super quickly. Would have liked to see Bindy making friends and becoming a better person spread out over more time. Having said that, once we got into the end game I was hooked and couldn't put it down.
A solid 3
A solid 3
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stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dairyqueen84
The story of the life and murder of Bindy MacKenzie is told in a series of reports to school officials, journal entries, and emails and memos to her parents, teachers, friends and enemies alike all written by…Bindy MacKenzie. Bindy is a driven, straight-A student who begins to slide academically
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as her 11th year at Ashbury High, an Australian private school, progresses. She feels tired and sick most of the time, begins falling behind in her classes, fails a test and is stuck in a new class called Friendship and Development (FAD), which she hates and where she can't help herself but try to help her teacher and classmates. Of course she does not make friends in FAD because of her know-it-all attitude and her willingness to share what she thinks of her classmates. On top of all that she has this maddening habit of typing up transcripts of what is going on around her. No wonder someone is trying to murder her (and the answer will lie in her notes). This wild ride of a book is quirky, funny, touching, and heartwarming. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Davitt Award (Winner — Young Adult Novel — 2007)
Ned Kelly Award (Shortlist — 2007)
CCBC Choices (2007)
OYAN Book Rave (2008)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2006
Physical description
384 p.; 8.5 x 5.31 inches
ISBN
0330438840 / 9780330438841