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drdspice's review against another edition
4.0
I can't begin to describe this. A coming of age story set in a Reno trailer park. The format of novel is very unique, with revelations about Rory’s family coming in bits and pieces, and often through different channels (for example, her mother’s arrest records, files Rory stole from a social worker, etc.). The chapter headings are enigmatic and force the reader to connect the dots to figure out what is happening to Rory or how she’s feeling
dimed200's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
sdoncolo's review against another edition
5.0
I really really liked this book. I am waffling between 4 and 5 stars (5 being reserved for SUPER WOWs in my book), and I'm going to err on the up side. Hassman's novel is impressionistic and collage-style, yet still readable as a straight-through narrative. It truly takes the reader inside the heart of the young girl narrator, including her self-awareness and lack of self-awareness, the blind spots she has about her mother because (a) she loves her, (b) that's all she knows, and (c) she needs her mother to take care of her ... for now. And the parts that are redacted ring so true with growing up -- the things we want to tell but can't, the things we start to tell but stop ourselves for our own safety or peace of mind. The book somewhat skirts over issues like sexual abuse, but it's not a book ABOUT sexual abuse -- it's a book about growing up as the youngest child of a family mired in poverty and lack of options, and the abuse she witnesses and experiences are simply part of the milieu that this narrator happens to be steeped in.
My one critique was that the Girl Scout Handbook aspect feels like it is important, but it's a bit uneven throughout the book -- I wish it had been deployed more evenly throughout the story.
I was happy that R.D. found some hope at the end -- and that it was a believable kind of hope. My heart hurt for this character, and since I began the book I've been wondering what happened to R.D. later, which is a sure sign of a believable character. I'm glad I met her.
My one critique was that the Girl Scout Handbook aspect feels like it is important, but it's a bit uneven throughout the book -- I wish it had been deployed more evenly throughout the story.
I was happy that R.D. found some hope at the end -- and that it was a believable kind of hope. My heart hurt for this character, and since I began the book I've been wondering what happened to R.D. later, which is a sure sign of a believable character. I'm glad I met her.
kamasue's review against another edition
4.0
this is a brutal, though often tender coming-of-age story. RD is a spitfire, a scholar [of books AND people] and a survivor. an excellent first novel!
aahlvers's review against another edition
2.0
The writing was beautiful but I feel like this had been done by other YA authors in more compelling ways.
souper2023's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bigskyreader's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story narrated by a young girl named Rory. She lives in a neighborhood called the Calle, a boulevard of broken dreams in the desert scrub outside of Reno. The ragtag trailer park is populated mostly by single mothers like her own and her grandmother, women who got pregnant young, married the wrong men, and tried their best to do right by their kids despite their addictions and poverty. Rory is often bewildered by her own life, and tries to make sense of the life she leads, and dreams of something better. Her guide to something better is her Girl Scout Handbook, checked out from her school library so often that the librarian finally sold it to her for a dime. Here she becomes a troop of one, trying to earn her badges and follow the tenets of honor and duty, even when her world is falling apart. It's a tough world to inhabit, and the odds of Rory getting out aren't good, but a great character she is.