Girl

I read this book as part of the #yearofya August twitter chat to read books from the 1980s and 1990s (written during that time or SET in that time period) for the 8/30 chat at 8pm EST, please join us! Blake Nelson's book (taking place in the 90s) chronicles sophomore Andrea Marr for her last 3 years of high school. She is a teen so many will understand with her insecurities, love of music, bands, and thrift store clothes. Blake's writing was a little unnerving for me (run on sentences about all she thinks, sees, believes, etc.) but I understood that the reader was in Andrea's head as she saw and thought all things in her life, her high school days, and her night life. She experiments with sex, smoking, stays out late, and lies to her parents. I liked Andrea's growth, her dark side (Brad at camp seemed the most real relationship she has in the book), her insecurity (but she never does ecstasy), her friendships (and her friends like Cybil, Amy, Nathan, Todd) and her life as she grows, learns, and struggles toward finishing high school and going to college. I definitely want to read the other 2 Girl books, I love Blake Nelson. I read his latest book, Boy, FIRST and really liked that---writing style was different and I really related (I did not relate to Andrea- I felt like I was just an observer) to Gavin Meeks! So much so, I have already downloaded the next book in the series about Marisol. I guess I wish I had read Girl 1st, then Boy, oh well. Still love all the Blake Nelson books, my teens in the library did too!

I read this maybe 10 times in college and just recently reread it. It still holds up. There's all these little moments where Nelson explains a huge young adult emotion in the simplest way that is so poignant it makes you want to cry. This is a huge influence on my own writing and I am excited to finally read the sequels.

This is a special book to me. It made me love books. 📚 It's a fantastic book. If you want to know how it was for youth in the great Northwest in the 90'S when Seattle was cutting edge with alternative grunge music 🎶 this is the book for you.

This story is really good. I was scared that I wouldn't like it but I really enjoyed it. I don't know why but I have an obsession with the 90s maybe because I was born in the 90s but after I saw this book I knew I had to read it. Being that I was a baby during this time I don't really remember it but if it was anything like this for girls growing up I'm glad I was just a kid. I think every female should read this book. Even if you don't like books like this just give it a chance. I'm not into the stuff that Andrea was into but I could kind of relate to her. I didn't think I would want to read the next book. But the last sentence in the story changed my mind.

Nothing wrong with the literature itself, I read this book when I was younger, but this book itself is in horrible condition. It doesn’t look like it was ever read, since the spine is intact, but it was sticky all over and had scratches on the cover. I wiped it down, so it’s no longer sticky, but whatever was on it, left the book looking shiny in spots. Wish this wasn’t the case but it is what it is

I did not even know this book was around. I saw the movie first when it was on HBO years ago. Then as I was looking for the movie on Amazon I found the book. It was a little different than the movie I must say and written kind of odd but for the time period and the story it was understandable why it was written the way it was. I enjoyed it.

This is my favorite book, well written. Can't help but wonder what happens to Andrea after the book though. I love the main character and the plot. Local music holds a spot in my heart and this book I felt like I could relate to when I was in high school and first read it. Even at 31 years old now it still makes me feel nostalgic about my teen years.

This probably ties with Weetzie Bat for my all time favorite book. I read this in ninth grade after I read an excerpt in Sassy. I've read it at least 10 times. Your teenage daughter will love it. Especially if she's into the local music scene. There's a sequel that took Blake Nelson forever to write. It's not as good, but if you love this book, read the sequel.

It’s rare that I will review a book if I haven’t completed reading it. I couldn’t finish this book. I tried… Very hard. The author could’ve done so much more with the story. Many sentences began with “And then“. Often the author spoke about dialogue that occurred between two characters instead of actually inserting the dialogue into the narrative. This novel was meant to be written from the perspective of a teen girl, Andrea. The author did not convey this; often I felt like I was reading a novel from the perspective of a teenage boy. In short, I feel like the novel is a series of sentences that state “and then“, “and then”, “and then”. Where is the Depth and feeling? So many opportunities are presented in this novel for Andrea to think and feel, but they are not conveyed.

As pictured arrived quickly