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A review by satyridae
The Boyhood of Grace Jones by Jane Langton, Emily Arnold McCully
3.0
Spoilers.
90% of this book is wonderful.
Grace is a tomboy, an imaginary sailor, a fan of [b:Swallows and Amazons|125190|Swallows and Amazons (Swallows and Amazons, #1)|Arthur Ransome|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277148503s/125190.jpg|231599] (which I've never read), and much given to wearing her dad's old Navy middy. She eschews the girly aspects of life with a great deal of scorn and no little derision. She's got a huge crush on a girl named Chatty. She's the bane of her mother's existence, and a flickering candle of hope to several teachers. In this book she discovers poetry, and in a way I so clearly remember from my own life, it changes the way she looks at everything.
Rich in period detail, including the terribly exciting debut of the movie version of Gone With The Wind and movie star photos under the lids of Dixie cup ice cream.
Why three stars? Because Langton sells Grace out at the end, turns her into an ordinary girly-girl with only the slightest indication that she'll remain her own quirky self when she comes out the other side of adolescence. She also finds it necessary to graphically remove any hope of Grace ever becoming a real sailor. It didn't feel right, it didn't feel authentic to the Grace of the rest of the book.
I get that this happens. I understand that in many cases it's right and proper. Still, I'd like to see more Pippi and less Barbie.
So, four stars right up until the end, when we plummet off of Trueblue Tom's cliff into the land of the curling iron and the spider-leg eyelashes.
90% of this book is wonderful.
Grace is a tomboy, an imaginary sailor, a fan of [b:Swallows and Amazons|125190|Swallows and Amazons (Swallows and Amazons, #1)|Arthur Ransome|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277148503s/125190.jpg|231599] (which I've never read), and much given to wearing her dad's old Navy middy. She eschews the girly aspects of life with a great deal of scorn and no little derision. She's got a huge crush on a girl named Chatty. She's the bane of her mother's existence, and a flickering candle of hope to several teachers. In this book she discovers poetry, and in a way I so clearly remember from my own life, it changes the way she looks at everything.
Rich in period detail, including the terribly exciting debut of the movie version of Gone With The Wind and movie star photos under the lids of Dixie cup ice cream.
Why three stars? Because Langton sells Grace out at the end, turns her into an ordinary girly-girl with only the slightest indication that she'll remain her own quirky self when she comes out the other side of adolescence. She also finds it necessary to graphically remove any hope of Grace ever becoming a real sailor. It didn't feel right, it didn't feel authentic to the Grace of the rest of the book.
I get that this happens. I understand that in many cases it's right and proper. Still, I'd like to see more Pippi and less Barbie.
So, four stars right up until the end, when we plummet off of Trueblue Tom's cliff into the land of the curling iron and the spider-leg eyelashes.