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A review by clp412
Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood by Maureen Stanton
4.0
This book was read by my bookclub and it brought up interesting conversation. All of us learned something about Angel Dust/PCP and how much it influenced the community in Walpole where Maureen grew up. The story of Maureen's childhood brought up fun memories and conversation for us to discuss from parenting philosophies to our high school experiences (which all were thankfully different than this book!). Overall it painted a very good picture of what life was like in the 70s and the diary entries and the music/song references throughout. The Walpole prison played a big role in the life in the community for Maureen and we wished there had been more about that in the story.
The mom was the character that most of us could relate to the most and enjoyed the most (as well as who the book was dedicated to). Although she seemed overwhelmed and we found her a bit clueless as to Maureen's lifestyle we found her the most likable (and creative at times). Who brings a roast to the beach!?!? So fun!
Maureen touches upon her academic successes and athletic abilities but we wanted to hear more about that and more about her family interactions. We know her siblings were an important part of her growing up and we craved more about the bonds (good and bad) with siblings and more of those experiences in the book.
The final thing we discussed was how as parents we could be more aware of our children when they are in high school. Maureen mentioned her mom's biggest concern in high school was unplanned pregnancy and so mom seemed unaware of the drugs her daughter was taking. Life has changed so much since we were children with technology, cellphones, e-cigaraettes, etc. and so as parents we want to make sure we are staying ahead of the challenges for our children to support them.
Maureen had an interesting childhood and using her diaries to write the book with a unique story in the 70s and it was a good read overall.
Thank you to The BookClub Cookbook galley match program as well as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishing for the opportunity for my entire book club to read this book!
The mom was the character that most of us could relate to the most and enjoyed the most (as well as who the book was dedicated to). Although she seemed overwhelmed and we found her a bit clueless as to Maureen's lifestyle we found her the most likable (and creative at times). Who brings a roast to the beach!?!? So fun!
Maureen touches upon her academic successes and athletic abilities but we wanted to hear more about that and more about her family interactions. We know her siblings were an important part of her growing up and we craved more about the bonds (good and bad) with siblings and more of those experiences in the book.
The final thing we discussed was how as parents we could be more aware of our children when they are in high school. Maureen mentioned her mom's biggest concern in high school was unplanned pregnancy and so mom seemed unaware of the drugs her daughter was taking. Life has changed so much since we were children with technology, cellphones, e-cigaraettes, etc. and so as parents we want to make sure we are staying ahead of the challenges for our children to support them.
Maureen had an interesting childhood and using her diaries to write the book with a unique story in the 70s and it was a good read overall.
Thank you to The BookClub Cookbook galley match program as well as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishing for the opportunity for my entire book club to read this book!