Pretty Little Liars (Book)

Pretty Little Liars is the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series written by Sara Shepard. It was published by Harper Teen on October 3, 2006.

Spencer Hastings is featured on the book cover.

Back Cover Summary
Everything has something to hide—espically high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily.

Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. And Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful.

But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were and the naughty girls they are now. And guess what? I'm telling.

In Detail Summary
The story introduces an exclusive group of friends: "Alison DiLaurentis", the perfect yet manipulative queen bee, Aria Montgomery, an independent girl who is considered to be the oddball in Rosewood, Emily Fields, who holds secret feeling for Alison, Hanna Marin, who strives to be thin and popular like Alison, and Spencer Hastings, an overachiever who is brave enough to stand up to Alison's manipulative ways. Alison mysteriously dissapears during a sleepover with the girls the summer before 8th grade. The story then jumps 3 years later, when the girls are living their own lives and don't speaking to each other. Aria returns to Rosewood after a 3 year trip to Iceland with her family and comes back much more sophisticated then before she left. She meets and kisses a guy in a local bar who is revealed to be her English teacher, Ezra Fitz. Emily befriends the new girl in town, Maya St. Germain, and soon develops romantic feelings for her. Hanna is the new popular girl in town, alongside the former nerd Mona Vanderwaal. However, she and Mona sometimes shoplift though both can clearly afford their steals. Hanna battles the urge to turn back to bulimia, and struggles to manage the stress of keeping her queen bee status. Spencer continutes to struggle in her long-standing rivalry with her sister Melissa Hastings, her perfect older sister. Problems begin to occur when Spencer begins to feel attracted to Melissa's new boyfriend, Wren Kim, when he is introduced to the family. Throughout the story, the liars get messages threatening to reveal their secrets of the present and the past, including a terrifying incident the girls refer to as "The Jenna Thing". They automatically it is their missing friend, Alison, because she is the only one each of them confided in regarding their darkest secrets. However, they are shocked when the police find her corpse buried in the backyard of her former house. The book ends with the liars receiving a text at Alison's funeral saying, "I'm still here bitches. And I know everything". The message is from...A.

Messages from "A"

 * "Aria: Surprise! I wonder what you're pig puppet will have to say about this... -A"
 * "Hey Em! Sob! I've been replaced! You've found another friend to kiss! -A"
 * "Spencer: Covet is an easy one. When someone covets something, they desire and lust after it. Usually it's something they can't have. You've always had that problem, though, haven't you? -A"
 * "Hey Hanna, Since prison food makes you fat, you know what Sean's going to say? Not it! -A"
 * "Aria, Maybe he fools around with students all the time. A lot of teachers do......Just ask your dad! -A"
 * "Hanna, even Daddy doesn't love you best! -A"
 * "Aria, that's some kind of extra credit! -A"
 * "P.S. Wonder what your mom would think about your dad's little, uh, study buddy...and that you knew! -A"
 * "A A A A A A: I already told you: Kissing your sister's boyfriend is WRONG."
 * "Thought you might want this back. Love, A"
 * "Hanna: Remember the KATE toothbrush? Thought so! -A"
 * "I'm still here bitches. And I know everything. -A"

Break ups

 * Ezra and Aria: Aria and Ezra hook up at his house on the night of Noel Kahn's field party. She gets a message from A and rushes back home, leaving her Treo phone behind. The next morning, just after Ali's body is found, Aria returns to Ezra's house to get her phone. However, she finds him distraught and angry with her. A had apparently sent Aria more texts throughout the night; Ezra read them, believing his student was playing him for a fool and telling her friends about their relationship. Aria becomes so upset and dazed that she bites Ezra's hand before he screams at her to leave.
 * Hanna and Sean: Hanna's relationship with Sean Ackard is strained due to the athlete's sudden interest in joining the virginity club. The brunette is very eager to have sex with her boyfriend, but with each attempt at intimacy he becomes more distant. At Noel's party, Hanna tries to seduce Sean in the infamous Manhood Woods. At this point his patience with her runs out with her and her tells her that she is not the type of girl he wants to be with. He also tells Hanna that she needs to respect herself more instead of throwing herself at him.
 * Emily and Ben: Emily and Ben's relationship becomes troubled when she starts to hang out with Maya St. Germain. The swimmer begins to second-guess being with her boyfriend; She wonders if she's really with Ben or just doing what everyone else expects her to do. Interestingly, many of the other swimmer suggested that the two should go out, which makes Emily further question if she really wants to be with Ben. He catches Emily kissing Maya in a photobooth at Noel's party and angrily tosses his drink on them.
 * Melissa and Wren: As Wren gets to know Spencer, the sexual tension rises between them. Eventually, it results in a hook-up in Spencer's barn apartment. Spencer notices her older sister staring at them from a short distance and the older Hastings appear with a calm yet cold demeanor. She promptly breaks up with Wren and gets Spencer kicked out of the barn.

Hook-ups

 * Emily and Maya: A new girl from San Fransisco, Maya makes Emily feel and think in a way that she's not accostumed to. It's a strange but refreshing feeling and she often catched herself looking at Maya in a more senusal manner. Emily dismesses her thought at first and doesn't want to believe that she's gay. Even though she kissed Ali, she doesn't believe she's attracted to girls. The two hook up at Noel Kahn's party and are shortly caugh by Emily's boyfriend.
 * Spencer and Wren: Spencer meets Melissa's boyfriend at a fancy Philadelphia restaurant with her family. Wren's a bit intimidated by the Hastings' intense attitudes but finds that Spencer does not have the same need to appear perfect. He later helps her out with a sore shoulder and a lower back. They hook up in the barn apartment but Melissa catches them.
 * Aria and Ezra: Aria and Ezra meet in an Old Hollis bar. After making out in the bathroom, they exchange numbers. The next day, they find out that he's her new AP English teacher. While he attempts to keep the relationship from going any further, he eventually gives in and hooks up with Aria again. She used Noel Kahn, also an AP English student, to make Ezra jealous and it worked wonderfully.
 * Ashley and Darren: Hanna's mother hooks up with the young Rosewood Police officer after Hanna is caught stealing and crashing her ex-boyfriend's car. The brunette sees the two adults enter the Marin household with their arms wrapped around each other. Ashley told her perviously that she would handle the situation, but Hanna had no idea that this is how she would handle it.