fancy little rebels

[krisstte]

Does "fancy little rebels" here mean "spoiled naughty kids"?

We’d had a group of people, most likely high school students or fancy little rebels, come in and place the entire World Religions section out of order over the weekend. They threw books on the floor, they hid them in other sections, under tables. They rearranged the titles in no discernible order.

Taylor Jenkins Reid "Forever, Interrupted"

 

[probus]

Very likely, yes. There's also a slight chance that rebels might refer to American southerners but without supporting context that seems improbable.

 

[Skrej]

The term is being used somewhat ironically or mockingly anyway. The actions the 'rebels' took were pretty minor in terms of damage or disruption. Highly annoying, sure, and it doubtlessly created extra work for library staff, but big picture, it's not really all that destructive. It's mocking the idea of real-life rebels trying to do major damage to whatever regime they're fighting against.

While the kids doing it probably thought it was fun or possibly thought they were making some kind of anti-religion statement, it's ultimately just a juvenile action one might expect from toddlers.