Helpful Score: 1
THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD is a novel-in-verse that stares unflinchingly into the broken and confused life of a high school girl. Penny's mother left her, her father, and her older sister Tara a long time ago. Tara is the cool older sister who hardly gives Penny the time of day, and Penny's two best friends are drifting apart, turning into people she hardly knows.
Thus, Penny must navigate the choppy waters of adolescence by herself. Sometimes she gets things right, but most of the time she'll make mistakes. Either way, however, her story is a real, believable, and heartbreaking one that any teenage girl will like to pick up.
Thus, Penny must navigate the choppy waters of adolescence by herself. Sometimes she gets things right, but most of the time she'll make mistakes. Either way, however, her story is a real, believable, and heartbreaking one that any teenage girl will like to pick up.
I loved this book.
The poems were all cohesive, yet could be read one at a time too.
I don't even enjoy poetry that much & this ended up being one of my favorite books.
The poems were all cohesive, yet could be read one at a time too.
I don't even enjoy poetry that much & this ended up being one of my favorite books.
My thoughts:
Positive:
* This went with my my theme of reading novels written in poetry.
* It reminded me of how I was in high school. I was kinda lost and floating through friends. Although, I never ran away.
* It's much like a movie.
Negative:
* It's extremely sad with no real ending.
* I think that she doesn't ever realize how much she was taken advantage of and that would have been a strong lesson to learn.
* It can be a little bit too like a movie and not completely believable.
Positive:
* This went with my my theme of reading novels written in poetry.
* It reminded me of how I was in high school. I was kinda lost and floating through friends. Although, I never ran away.
* It's much like a movie.
Negative:
* It's extremely sad with no real ending.
* I think that she doesn't ever realize how much she was taken advantage of and that would have been a strong lesson to learn.
* It can be a little bit too like a movie and not completely believable.
Well-written, poetic, easy, and perfect. Beautifully written and a nice read. All about love, friendship, and family. Hard to put down, and it went too fast.
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
Novels told in verse usually fall into two categories: those that simply tell a story with poetry, and those that manage to capture a life so eloquently in verse that you fall headfirst into the story. THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD, thankfully, falls into the latter category. Kirsten Smith has managed to pen, through verse, the story of fourteen-year old Penny Marrow, a girl you will laugh with, cry with, and get to know very, very well within the pages of this book.
Penny's older sister, Tara, was blessed with the beauty, and the ability to cut her sister down with only a glance. Her father's hope is simply that his daughters will have listened to him enough to stay away from bad boys and make a place for themselves in the world. And as for her mother? She left when Penny was six, and the only thing Penny has to remind her of her mom is a snow globe. Now she has a stepmother, and a younger stepbrother, and a family life that can be summed up with "don't be like your sister."
For Penny, life is confusing, with the fights her friends have regularly and the first kiss that makes her faint and the huge infatuation she has on her sister's boyfriend. But behind it all is the wish that her mother would just come home, would be returned by the aliens who abducted her or whatever, and make everything better. For Penny, watching her father change and her sister change and herself change is too much to take without a mother. But years pass, and when she finally gets one thing that she wants--which is Bobby--it's not at all like she expected, and she loses friends and gains new acquaintances and still, in the back of her mind, she wants her mother.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD is sweet and bitter, a poignant story filled with joy and heartbreak about growing up and learning to let go and first love. Thankfully, this is a book told in verse that you won't soon forget, a definite recommended read.
Novels told in verse usually fall into two categories: those that simply tell a story with poetry, and those that manage to capture a life so eloquently in verse that you fall headfirst into the story. THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD, thankfully, falls into the latter category. Kirsten Smith has managed to pen, through verse, the story of fourteen-year old Penny Marrow, a girl you will laugh with, cry with, and get to know very, very well within the pages of this book.
Penny's older sister, Tara, was blessed with the beauty, and the ability to cut her sister down with only a glance. Her father's hope is simply that his daughters will have listened to him enough to stay away from bad boys and make a place for themselves in the world. And as for her mother? She left when Penny was six, and the only thing Penny has to remind her of her mom is a snow globe. Now she has a stepmother, and a younger stepbrother, and a family life that can be summed up with "don't be like your sister."
For Penny, life is confusing, with the fights her friends have regularly and the first kiss that makes her faint and the huge infatuation she has on her sister's boyfriend. But behind it all is the wish that her mother would just come home, would be returned by the aliens who abducted her or whatever, and make everything better. For Penny, watching her father change and her sister change and herself change is too much to take without a mother. But years pass, and when she finally gets one thing that she wants--which is Bobby--it's not at all like she expected, and she loses friends and gains new acquaintances and still, in the back of her mind, she wants her mother.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD is sweet and bitter, a poignant story filled with joy and heartbreak about growing up and learning to let go and first love. Thankfully, this is a book told in verse that you won't soon forget, a definite recommended read.
