A friend of mine is reading GIRL, my first novel, and we were talking about it and I ended up reading a big chunk of it the other day.I hadn't read more than a page or two of it in years, so this immersion was kind of revelation. Mainly I was shocked by the sex and drugs and carnage and brutality of Andrea's high school, the so innocent sounding "Hillside High." There's race riots, rape, murder, suicide, people stopping being friends with people without communicating about it or providing closure. And of course everyone's having sex with everyone all the time. And not in committed relationships!
And in the middle of it is Andrea Marr, who in my fond memories is this charming, lovable, observer just doing the best she can. But NO! Andrea is as bad as the rest of them!
I sort of understand a little better, the shift in Amazon commentary from the 90s when teens were so consistently positive about GIRL, and the newer comments in which today's teens struggle with all the mayhem and loose morals. They just don't know what to think about it, you can tell. Which is fine. I understand. Times have changed. I also don't feel so bad that I've kind of cleaned up my later books. I did the right thing. The whole world has "cleaned up" in a way. And when I think about it, and am honest, I think I'd rather be a kid now, in the Glee era, the time of the High School Musical. It just seems so much easier now.
Your line "people stopping being friends with people without communicating about it or providing closure" is something which which I am very familiar.
ReplyDeleteGreat blurb - or blog, or boob - or whatever they're callin' it nowadays! I'll see you in Cali in a few weeks - as I'm comin' down.
J.
It's all about Sybil. Love her!
ReplyDeletebeg to differ. no easier. ask brosenberg, she'll fill you in.
ReplyDeleteBlake, I just want to say that GIRL is one of my all time favorite books. I love the gritty parts, and the book has always been relatable, even as I get older. The public face of high school may be a little more squeaky and clean these days, but the reality is something else entirely.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read the new book!
Emilia
I love both the book of Girl and dream school. I just now finished dream school and cryed. id like to have that book as a read book in my room instead of online. im really wondering when the next one will come out. In dream school i got very attached inside the book it made me feel like i was andrea and i was saying goodbye to all my friends and i did really feel bad for Hal. i cryed after i read that last chapter I have fallin in love with these books and I want to thank you for writing them.
ReplyDeleteIm in the middle of reading Girl, I found it randomly at my local library, and So far Im very relatable to Andrea, I live in Oregon and I happen to be a 16 year old girl. But I want to know how you can so easily write from a persective of a 16 year old girl? I'm very surprised at how real Andrea is.
ReplyDelete