A review by sonia_reppe
In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard

5.0

A really good read about a 14 yr-old girl and her friendships, babysitting adventures, boys, and other rites of passage that a 9th grader in a small midwestern middle-class town would encounter in the late 1970's. Beard captures this age perfectly with good observations and subtle humor. (I find that I repeat myself a lot as I write about these quality coming-of-age stories but that's because they all have some aspects in common, like the ones I just mentioned). The story starts with a house on fire; the house is where the protagonist and her best friend are babysitting. Yeah...maybe these two are not mature enough to babysit a brood of kids. This opening scene is a good introduction to these girls, as we continue to see how these two friends switch between childish moments and entering adult-hood moments. The momentum to the end didn't build, and I was dissatisfied with the ending because it was kind of abrupt, although I like that the falling-out between the two girls was realistic in that it was small, awkward moments that cracked their friendship. I would love if Jo Ann Beard wrote a sequel to this and we can see the protagonist at 16.

I did read Boys of My Youth a long time ago but I liked this better.