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A review by chelsea2020
Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
5.0
This has got to be one of my favorite (new favorite) school-read books of all time (second only to The Book Thief). It takes absolutely no time at all to read and keeps your emotions in constant chaos, clutching at your heartstrings and plucking them try. You will feel everything from happiness to heartache, and so much more in between. This was worth every second of my time reading it.
Two Speddie (Special Education) girls have just graduated from school and are looking to get a fresh start in the world as working adults. Biddy and Quincy are put up by Elizabeth, an older woman in need of a full-time homeworker. Biddy will make her living cleaning Miss Lizzy's home from top to bottom and assisting her whenever needed. Quincy will make her living as a chef-of-sorts, working at the local grocery store 'Brown Cow.' Both girls work to their strengths as they become acclimated to this new and hopefully better life of theirs. Never having truly belonged anywhere before, both girls are hopeful that they have finally found somewhere to call 'Home.'
Biddy is a sweet and bubbly 18-year-old woman who looks at the world as a magical place with greatness around every corner. She sees people for how they act, and for the goodness that they harbor in their deepest hearts. She acknowledges the sometimes bad in people, though despite her past seems to largely overlook in it favor of the lightness that every beautiful creature in the world holds. As we delve into her time spent in her new life, she becomes a bolder and more outspoken girl. She completely come out of her shell and transforms into a fiercely protective person, more concerned with other than with her own issues. She is always open about how she feels, though in a way that is respectful of all company she's with. The changes made in her life are without a doubt for the better.
Quincy is a conservative and highly independent 18-year-old woman who looks at the world as a dark force with heartache hiding behind every corner, and at people as always having a secret motive to their every act. She sees people as superficial and incapable of caring for her in any way that counts. Because of her past, she has always lived her life lashing at others before they have a chance to lash out at her. And though this is how her story goes for much of the book, she will find a change in herself that she never expected. Despite her past, she may yet learn what it means to be a part of a family, and to fight for and protect them at all costs.
It is true that in the beginning Quincy was harsh, as all other had been for so many years, to Biddy and saw no more than what everyone else told her about the 'Ho girl,' but after becoming roommates and learning to see the real Biddy, she can no longer torment the fragile girl who has known little else since she was barely a teen girl. Likewise, once Biddy gets to know the real Quincy behind the tough exterior, she can no longer see her as indestructible and incapable of knowing pain. Once they put their difference aside and to good use, the two young women become close as any sisters could be. They bring each other up when the other is down and support their strengths as well as their weaknesses.
The changes that these two girls have made in their lives could not be summed up any better than this final quote from Quincy's own thoughts:
"Every once in a while, I hug that fool girl. Just for nothing."
Two Speddie (Special Education) girls have just graduated from school and are looking to get a fresh start in the world as working adults. Biddy and Quincy are put up by Elizabeth, an older woman in need of a full-time homeworker. Biddy will make her living cleaning Miss Lizzy's home from top to bottom and assisting her whenever needed. Quincy will make her living as a chef-of-sorts, working at the local grocery store 'Brown Cow.' Both girls work to their strengths as they become acclimated to this new and hopefully better life of theirs. Never having truly belonged anywhere before, both girls are hopeful that they have finally found somewhere to call 'Home.'
Biddy is a sweet and bubbly 18-year-old woman who looks at the world as a magical place with greatness around every corner. She sees people for how they act, and for the goodness that they harbor in their deepest hearts. She acknowledges the sometimes bad in people, though despite her past seems to largely overlook in it favor of the lightness that every beautiful creature in the world holds. As we delve into her time spent in her new life, she becomes a bolder and more outspoken girl. She completely come out of her shell and transforms into a fiercely protective person, more concerned with other than with her own issues. She is always open about how she feels, though in a way that is respectful of all company she's with. The changes made in her life are without a doubt for the better.
Quincy is a conservative and highly independent 18-year-old woman who looks at the world as a dark force with heartache hiding behind every corner, and at people as always having a secret motive to their every act. She sees people as superficial and incapable of caring for her in any way that counts. Because of her past, she has always lived her life lashing at others before they have a chance to lash out at her. And though this is how her story goes for much of the book, she will find a change in herself that she never expected. Despite her past, she may yet learn what it means to be a part of a family, and to fight for and protect them at all costs.
It is true that in the beginning Quincy was harsh, as all other had been for so many years, to Biddy and saw no more than what everyone else told her about the 'Ho girl,' but after becoming roommates and learning to see the real Biddy, she can no longer torment the fragile girl who has known little else since she was barely a teen girl. Likewise, once Biddy gets to know the real Quincy behind the tough exterior, she can no longer see her as indestructible and incapable of knowing pain. Once they put their difference aside and to good use, the two young women become close as any sisters could be. They bring each other up when the other is down and support their strengths as well as their weaknesses.
The changes that these two girls have made in their lives could not be summed up any better than this final quote from Quincy's own thoughts:
"Every once in a while, I hug that fool girl. Just for nothing."