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The Geography of Girlhood
A Novel

by Kirsten Smith



      Most women remember what it was like to be a teenager - stuck in what seemed like a never-ending limbo cursed with zits and awkwardness. They remember their first loves, their first times. They remember the feeling of getting married, of what they felt the moment they first saw their child being brought to them in the hospital. In The Geography of Girlhood, Kirsten Smith tells the story of a girl named Penny Morrow and her journey through girlhood. Written in poetic form, Penny's story crosses the bridge between teenhood and adulthood in a way that will have every reader captivated. From girlhood to motherhood, Penny journeys through life allowing her, as well as the readers, to truly understand the geography of being a girl.

I truly love this book. The poetry is so melodic that it's hard not to feel the exact emotions that Penny's feeling as each word is written. To give everyone a better feel for just how wonderful the writing is, here's an excerpt that is fast becoming one of my favorites:

Fourteen

Fourteen is like rotten candy,
fourteen is like a joke that no one gets.
When you're fourteen,
you look good only once a week
and it's never on the day of the dance.
When you're fourteen,
you have a mouthful of metal
that no one wants to taste.
Fourteen is going to bed at night
and wishing you could wake up with a new face
or a new dad or better yet,
a new life
that doesn't look anything
like this one.

To me, this is a great example of just how on the mark Smith is about the life of an average girl. She reaches into the depths of every woman and finds those moments that make us who we are. I highly recommend this book for anyone who not only loves poetry but also would love the chance to share in the true nature of girlhood with the women and girls in their lives.

The Book

Little, Brown and Company
March 1, 2006
Hardcover
0-316-16021-0
Teen / Young Adult
Poetry / Poetic Fiction
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Carisa Weeaks
Reviewed 2006
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© 2006 MyShelf.com