The Sopranos

The coolest choir section at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour School for Girls, the Sopranos consist of a gaggle of small-town Scottish teens — including raunchy ringleader Fionnula; star material Kylah; Hodgkin's disease-stricken Orla; impoverished scrapper Chell; and scorned, preppy Kay. Led by steely Sister Condron (dubbed Sister Condom), the potty-mouthed lassies must perform at a choir competition in Edinburgh but have one free day to carouse. What could have been annoyingly teensploitative — with all the drinking, snogging, and mayhem that ensues — The Sopranos is instead refreshingly likable and funny, since Scottish prose virtuoso Alan Warner evokes rebellion, Catholic school-style, at a boisterous, fondly irreverent pitch. B+