Teen Lit: One Review for You

"Get in," he said, reaching to open the passenger's door. The women in his family had all been bossy, from his greatmother right down through his five sisters. He had great respect for strong-minded women and they never failed to cheer him up. Soon he and Dolores had rattled over the railway tracks and the tires were singing along the highway that led out of town."

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl is good solid teen lit. It has suspense, heartbreak, and most of all, the protagonist continually makes what seems to be the wrong decision only to have everything work out perfectly at the end.

Trouble follows Noreen Stall everywhere. She is seventeen, pregnant and on the run with a stolen car and a wad of cash. Part 1: Stranger delves into how this all came to be. Part 2: True Confessions outlines chapter by chapter her sins; pride, lust, sloth, anger. Part 3: Wages of Sin is where the story really takes off and the cast of characters residing in this small prairie town develop and resonate. Despite the chapter names, religion/faith/spirituality are not explored in any meaningful way. In this light, the chapter titles seem like a gimic or ploy. A number of book reviews mention them and make them out to be a lot more than they are. Dolores, an elderly aboriginal waitress is a spiritual and combines a love of God with a love of mother earth. However, the protagonist, Noreen doesn't particularly explore spirituality other than experiencing one hazy vision of God.

In fact, the rythms of the earth permeate the writing and lend a richness not often found in teen literature. The imagry is beautiful and intertwines with the personal demons each character is dealing with.

"It was the photographs that couldn't be replaced. How do you put a price on a memory that looks back at you-one that is so sharp it stops the world and takes your breath away....A south wind stirred the leaves in the cottonwood near where he worked. Then the wind shifted direction, moving strongly from the east. It carried the thick reedy smell of the lake, and it carried memories. On the morning Danny drowned, when they brought him up from the bottom of the lake, somebody had said that a small pure white stone had been found in his mouth. Del shivered in spite of the heat and his lonliness deepened."

This book was a satisfying one-day-read although I must warn you that the end fizzles out. I think the title is great and I'll keep it in mind for a future blog entry...

PS- I know content has been serious lately! Hopefully something absurdly wonderful will occur over the next few days! I am also responding to a request for more book reviews. And, as I read a lot it helps me digest what I've been reading rather than tossing it aside and starting on the next title...