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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman paints a picture of the troubled life of Rory Dawn Hendrix growing up in a trailer park outside Reno, NV. Her mother and grandmother both became mothers at 15 and are bound and determined that Rory will not be the third generation to follow the pattern. The story is not told in a chronological order, but in a somewhat fractured series of snippets and stories of Rory's life. Hassman has a very unique voice and I really enjoyed the way she told this story. She had a bold ending, but it just didn't feel like enough for me after all we'd been through with Rory.
Thisismybookblog.blogspot.com
Thisismybookblog.blogspot.com
I struggled with this book because I was unsure whether the voice of the main character was "real" in the sense of what a girl in that situation would be like. It felt very voyeuristic.
I can't begin to describe this. A coming of age story set in a Reno trailer park. The format of novel is very unique, with revelations about Rory’s family coming in bits and pieces, and often through different channels (for example, her mother’s arrest records, files Rory stole from a social worker, etc.). The chapter headings are enigmatic and force the reader to connect the dots to figure out what is happening to Rory or how she’s feeling
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
I really really liked this book. I am waffling between 4 and 5 stars (5 being reserved for SUPER WOWs in my book), and I'm going to err on the up side. Hassman's novel is impressionistic and collage-style, yet still readable as a straight-through narrative. It truly takes the reader inside the heart of the young girl narrator, including her self-awareness and lack of self-awareness, the blind spots she has about her mother because (a) she loves her, (b) that's all she knows, and (c) she needs her mother to take care of her ... for now. And the parts that are redacted ring so true with growing up -- the things we want to tell but can't, the things we start to tell but stop ourselves for our own safety or peace of mind. The book somewhat skirts over issues like sexual abuse, but it's not a book ABOUT sexual abuse -- it's a book about growing up as the youngest child of a family mired in poverty and lack of options, and the abuse she witnesses and experiences are simply part of the milieu that this narrator happens to be steeped in.
My one critique was that the Girl Scout Handbook aspect feels like it is important, but it's a bit uneven throughout the book -- I wish it had been deployed more evenly throughout the story.
I was happy that R.D. found some hope at the end -- and that it was a believable kind of hope. My heart hurt for this character, and since I began the book I've been wondering what happened to R.D. later, which is a sure sign of a believable character. I'm glad I met her.
My one critique was that the Girl Scout Handbook aspect feels like it is important, but it's a bit uneven throughout the book -- I wish it had been deployed more evenly throughout the story.
I was happy that R.D. found some hope at the end -- and that it was a believable kind of hope. My heart hurt for this character, and since I began the book I've been wondering what happened to R.D. later, which is a sure sign of a believable character. I'm glad I met her.
this is a brutal, though often tender coming-of-age story. RD is a spitfire, a scholar [of books AND people] and a survivor. an excellent first novel!
The writing was beautiful but I feel like this had been done by other YA authors in more compelling ways.