Who is Julia Monroe? Why should we care about her? Is it necessary to go through what Julia
experienced? If I were discussing The Day After Tomorrow with a group of adolescent girls,
those are just some of the questions I might ask them. The first part of this instructional fable
is a stream-of-consciousness account of the life of Julia Monroe, a fictional teen who describes
her thoughts and actions relating to first day of high school, clothes, family life and her boyfriend.
The second half of the book is a rather poignant account of Julia's striving to deal with her
out-of-whack emotions and attempting to resolve who she is currently with, what she truly desires,
and who she actually wants to be.
Although this book was written primarily for teenagers, because of its simplistic writing style
I think most teenagers would find The Day After Tomorrow beneath their reading level. I cannot
see the same teenage girls who flocked to bookstores to read the Twilight series being excited about
a somewhat one-dimensional, self-centered adolescent whose only romantic interlude goes awry, and
whose life is filled with petty concerns about her family and friends. With that said, most teenage
girls’ lives more closely resemble Julia Monroe's than Bella Swan's.
Many of the feelings expressed by Julia are reminiscent of the girls characterized in
Reviving Ophelia,
a non-fiction book that chronicles what happens to girls as they become young women in today's society.
As a former guidance counselor, one application of this easy-to-read-book would be to use it as
discussion material for an ongoing support group for teenage girls who are dealing with identity
issues, emerging sexuality, body image concerns, eating disorders or peer pressure issues.