Mannie is a teenage girl who decides to leave home. She puts on her mothers dress, steals some money, and takes the train to a nearby town where her grandmother lives. Mannie is a deep thinker, and the book is filled to the brim with her sometimes abstracts thoughts and sentiments about her life and memories, life in general, and the world around her. We find out that her mother had mental problems, her dad is absent emotionally, she loves her brother, and she is confused about her feelings for her neighbor Harry. Can Mannie overcome multiple tragedies and find herself in the process?
The author has some beautiful things to say and obviously has the heart of poet. If this was a book with poetic musings about life and the world, I would buy it a heartbeat. But the addition of this plot didn’t feel authentic to me, I couldn’t imagine Mannie thinking those thoughts, since her actions were so mundane. There is a message here, but it’s lost in all the musings. I think a teenager would be incredibly bored with this book. (I loathe the thought of a well-intentioned teacher getting a hold of this and forcing themes and essays out of it).
HS – NOT RECOMMENDED. Reviewer: Stephanie MLIS graduate.
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