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A review by panda_incognito
Lanie by Jane Kurtz
2.0
I attempted to read this 2010 Girl of the Year book when it first released, but I gave up in disgust. I don't remember how far I got, but I thought that the main character was rude and annoying, and it didn't look like the book was going to get more interesting beyond her complaining that she liked to spend time outdoors and her family did not.
This is better than I thought at the time, but not by much. The book is well-written, has a memorable POV voice, and encourages interest in science, animals, and the environment without being overly preachy. However, I can see why I bailed in 2010. I'm grateful that I was able to read this now for about a quarter, since some of my friends picked this up at a library book sale for me. I would never have been willing to pay enough to buy it online, but their find helps me satisfy my completion urge with the American Girl series.
I have three main complaints about this story. One is that Lanie is extremely snarky about her family not relating to her interests. Even though some of the family dynamics just portray realistic tensions and everyday frustrations, Lanie's overall attitude is the biggest problem in this book. I do like her dorky, offbeat POV voice, with expressions like "thrilldom" and "major woe," but she mostly uses her verbal skills to be mean.
This means that she and I had a lot in common in 2010! However, I at least knew how to give a real apology, and Lanie never recognizes or repents of her behavior. It's unfortunate that in a series that generally promotes great role models, Lanie gets away with her attitude and mistreatment of others without ever fully recognizing or growing beyond how unkind she is. She manages to see that she can have fun with her family despite their "inside genes," but she doesn't realize that she was the real problem all along.
She is also rude to her best friend through an email exchange, since she feels envious about the adventures her friend is having in Indonesia over the summer. Her feelings of envy are realistic and natural, but her rudeness to her friend is unacceptable, and she never truly apologizes. She later emails her friend again to tell her to delete the email if she hadn't read it, and that if she had, she should know that an alien had taken over Lanie's body and made her write it. NO. No. That is not an apology! Lanie's friend is very sweet in response, just like Lanie's family is sweet to her despite her behavior, but Lanie needs to learn how to actually ask forgiveness.
My second critique? The book keeps describing Lanie's super-cool house, which her architect mom remodeled, but there isn't a single illustration of the house or any of its features anywhere! That is very insignificant in comparison to my other complaints, but I was disappointed.
My third critique is that the story has no real plot. Various ups and downs ensue, but there isn't much of a story, and people and events keep coming and going from the narrative without it all tying together into a single coherent whole. Although this isn't the only Girl of the Year book with that problem, because this story involves a very interest-specific premise, it really needed a stronger plot to draw more kids in. If I was temporarily passionate about botany and still gave up on it, I doubt that this book did well with girls who weren't especially interested in nature.
This is better than I thought at the time, but not by much. The book is well-written, has a memorable POV voice, and encourages interest in science, animals, and the environment without being overly preachy. However, I can see why I bailed in 2010. I'm grateful that I was able to read this now for about a quarter, since some of my friends picked this up at a library book sale for me. I would never have been willing to pay enough to buy it online, but their find helps me satisfy my completion urge with the American Girl series.
I have three main complaints about this story. One is that Lanie is extremely snarky about her family not relating to her interests. Even though some of the family dynamics just portray realistic tensions and everyday frustrations, Lanie's overall attitude is the biggest problem in this book. I do like her dorky, offbeat POV voice, with expressions like "thrilldom" and "major woe," but she mostly uses her verbal skills to be mean.
This means that she and I had a lot in common in 2010! However, I at least knew how to give a real apology, and Lanie never recognizes or repents of her behavior. It's unfortunate that in a series that generally promotes great role models, Lanie gets away with her attitude and mistreatment of others without ever fully recognizing or growing beyond how unkind she is. She manages to see that she can have fun with her family despite their "inside genes," but she doesn't realize that she was the real problem all along.
She is also rude to her best friend through an email exchange, since she feels envious about the adventures her friend is having in Indonesia over the summer. Her feelings of envy are realistic and natural, but her rudeness to her friend is unacceptable, and she never truly apologizes. She later emails her friend again to tell her to delete the email if she hadn't read it, and that if she had, she should know that an alien had taken over Lanie's body and made her write it. NO. No. That is not an apology! Lanie's friend is very sweet in response, just like Lanie's family is sweet to her despite her behavior, but Lanie needs to learn how to actually ask forgiveness.
My second critique? The book keeps describing Lanie's super-cool house, which her architect mom remodeled, but there isn't a single illustration of the house or any of its features anywhere! That is very insignificant in comparison to my other complaints, but I was disappointed.
My third critique is that the story has no real plot. Various ups and downs ensue, but there isn't much of a story, and people and events keep coming and going from the narrative without it all tying together into a single coherent whole. Although this isn't the only Girl of the Year book with that problem, because this story involves a very interest-specific premise, it really needed a stronger plot to draw more kids in. If I was temporarily passionate about botany and still gave up on it, I doubt that this book did well with girls who weren't especially interested in nature.