Your Mama Didn't Read This

Pure, by Terra Elan McVoy

2009-06-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

For my very second blog posting ever, I’m trying something different, for the benefit of the one person who reads this besides my mother (Hi Kara!). After the review, I’m going to give the book a letter grade for a series of random qualifiers that I’ll come up with in front of the Sox. So, here goes!

Pure, by Terra Elan McVoy, chronicles three weeks in the life of 5 15-year-old friends, from the viewpoint of Tabitha. All 5 of the girls have been wearing purity rings since the age of 12, and the story revolves around one of Tabitha’s circle breaking her vow of abstinence. Each of the 5 friends defines her purity ring: Tab sees it as a commitment to herself, God and her best friend, Morgan (an unlikeablely 2-dimensional character) who sees it as sacrosanct and Cara, who loses her virginity, sees it as a vow to wait until love. As the conflict over these beliefs comes to a head, Tab has to form strong convictions about her own faith and loyalty. Having four of the five main characters be not only different, but equally compelling is a huge relief, though they accentuate the glaring faults in Morgan's slim outlook on life and faith.

What impressed me about this potentially cookie-cutter novel was that it provided a teenage female protagonist with a backbone. Tab has strong moral convictions, in conjunction with a nearly blind sense of loyalty, which makes her not only entertaining, but compelling. I was mostly struck by her braveness: despite overwhelming loneliness at losing Morgan, she chooses to stand by convictions and her other friends. Tab and her friends were a more authentic bunch of teenagers facing crisis than any teen novel I’ve read in a while.

WARNING: The whole purity ring thing is based in a Christian faith, which is also prevalent in the story. While I wasn’t overwhelmed with the religion-osity of it all, I’m also Christian, so I might be biased. I was impressed with some of the sermons excerpted in the novel, however.

Onto random grades!

Been there, done that: B (Oh look, teenage girls facing crisis and coming together in the end!)

Character Originality: A

Writing Style: B+ (Nice, but nothing special (see Wintergirls))

Cover Art: A- (I always judge books by their cover- The book isn't even close to as pink or sexual as the cover suggests)

Flow: B+

Blurb: B (I thought the book would be disappointing from the summary: it makes it seem that Tab is the one who betrays her vow and deals with a fall-out= Don’t even read the inside cover)

Emotions: B+ (I hate it when people make me cry, but the mother/daughter relationship was very well done)

Age Group: 12-16

Thanks for reading!!

2009-05-31T16:42:00.001-07:00

Numero Uno

2009-05-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

So, my mum has been bugging me to start this blog for a while, and I'm finally doing it. I am an avid reader, blessed with a librarian-mommy who keeps me well updated with all the best teen books. My hope in the coming months is to share as many books as I can with you, in hopes of either warning you against the bad ones, or encouraging people to not only read them, but possibly talk to your kid/parent about them. With that in mind, my first review is of Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson:

Most people know Miss Anderson from her first hit teen novel, Speak. For those who loved the book, Wintergirls won't disappoint. After her best friend, Cassie, dies alone in a hotel room after years of self-destruction, Lia is faced with the brutality of her own eating disorder. Anorexic post-divorce, Lia spends the time she would have spent eating obsessing over sabotaging her well-meaning stepmother's bathroom scale and telling herself that not eating makes her stronger, no matter how good those french-fries smell.

Spanning the weeks between Cassie's death and her funeral, Wintergirls is as poignant as any book I've ever read: Miss Anderson's way with words is so moving, I've got several of her phrases taped to my wall (I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through). This book is not for young kids: high school students should be okay, but every parent/student knows themselves better than me. I think that the self-destruction in the novel made me infintessimanally more greatful that I have parents who love me and I don't need to starve myself to experience control, but I tend to the mature aspect.

So, the 30-second review is...- Read this, please please please, but don't go in blind. It's scary and uncomfortable and makes you feel like your standing on the edge of a cliff, but it also made me appreciate my gifts. Laurie Halse Anderson is a god with words, and any of her novels are worth is solely for the style, in my opinion (historical fiction lovers: Chains is another FABULOUS read about a young slave girl at the beginning of the Revolutionary War). Wintergirls is a conversation starter, and some seriosly provocative ideas.

I hope someone benefits from this review, and I'll post again shortly (I'm 3/4 done with another great book!). Thanks for reading!!!