Sex, Love and Missing Moms

April is National Poetry Month -- did you know that? I have a bulletin board up in Club Fishbowl featuring poetry for teens in honor of National Poetry Month.

In further honor of Poetry, I decided to read The Geography of Girlhood, a book that showed up on the new book cart, even though it didn't look like something I would like. I have a love/hate relationship with novels in poetry format. I either love them to pieces (What My Mother Doesn't Know) or I hate them with a fiery passion (A Wreath for Emmett Till). Just judging by the oh-so-girly cover of The Geography of Girlhood, I was leaning towards the hate side of the equasion.

I was SO wrong.

Penny is a good girl with a wild child sister and a missing mom. The book starts in the summer before her freshman year of high school, when she's just starting to wonder about girls and boys, and what it means to be a grown up. It follows her first kiss, her father's surprising remarriage, her friendship with a cool older girl, her bad-idea of a relationship with her sister's ex and the deep sadness she always carries with her.

What makes this book so amazing is how real Penny is. She thinks and sounds like someone you could meet on the street tomorrow. So even if you don't like poetry or don't like books with girly covers, you should try The Geography of Girlhood. The author, Kristin Smith, was a writer on some of my favorite movies, and she really knows how to create a beliveable and memorable character.

See You Down the Road

Have you heard of the Irish Travelers before? According to Wikipedia, they are a nomadic group of Irish origin. In the United States, the Travelers do exactly what their name implies - go from town to town looking for jobs. There have been news stories about the Travelers who pull cons on the elderly or unsuspecting people. This story gives a different side of the Traveler culture.

For Bridget, this is the only life she has ever known. Her father works hard when he cons people - sometimes tarring driveways or roofs with tar that will wash off with the next rain. Her mother will persuade people to buy a trailer that might fall apart in 6 months. Bridget, who's 16, is working in a clothing shop and going to school. But within a week, the family is on the road again, going to small towns to get money any way they can.

Bridget has a lot of questions about how her family is living. Her parents keep a lot of secrets from her. Her mother won't let Bridget touch her cell phone in case Bridget finds out information about... what? Bridget doesn't know. Travelers custom dictates that Bridget be engaged by 16, and she is engaged to a friend, Patrick. She knows that she loves Patrick already, but she isn't sure that she wants to marry him. She feels sorry for some of the people that they are hurting through their cons, and wonders if she could leave the lifestyle and go to college. But she knows if she leaves this lifestyle, she will be kicked out of her family, and they will never speak her name again.

There aren't any answers in this story, but it is worth a read. Kim Ablon Whitney, who wrote the book, did extensive research before she wrote the novel, including having a Traveler read her book. Bridget is wondering who she is and how she fits into her family - something everyone wonders from time to time. Read it and send a comment to tell me what you think of the book.