Friday, August 2, 2013

Girlchild

Narrated through free-form chapters using diary entries, social worker reports, arrest records, letters and even Supreme Court decisions, Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman reads like a cross between The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman and Dorothy Allison's Bastard out of Carolina. Rory Dawn Hendrix lives in the Calle de las Flores Trailer Park - a ruined development skirting the wrong side of Reno. Her mama has a problem with booze and bad men and, even though she's quit on men, Grandma can't kick Kino. Family history foretells a future littered with unwanted pregnancies and rotten teeth. But Rory, determined to escape her legacy, excels at school - using a battered copy of the Girl Scout Handbook as her moral compass and earning imaginary badges in her scout troop of one.

Girlchild is Hassman's debut novel and, though the story isn't pretty, the writing is beautiful. Scarred yet strong, the women of Rory's family instill in her an optimism and resiliency relayed through her youthful clarity on every page.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

What can I post on your wall?
Commenting & Posting Guidelines

Welcome to your library on social media!

Pima County Public Library (PCPL) offers blogs and other social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter for educational, cultural, civic, customer service, and recreational purposes. They provide a limited (or designated) public forum to facilitate the sharing of ideas, opinions, and information about library-related subjects and issues.

By choosing to comment or post on our social media accounts, you agree with the following:

Comments and posts are moderated by library staff, and the library reserves the right to remove any that are unlawful or off topic. Posts containing the following may be deleted:
Copyright violations
Off-topic comments
Commercial material/spam/solicitation
Sexual content, or links to sexual content
Threatening or harassing postings
Libelous or other kinds of personal attacks
Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity
Content that reveals private, personal information without permission
Vulgar language or content
Comments in support of or in opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures
Content that degrades others on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability or other classification

P.S. Protect your privacy. Don't post personally identifying information in these public spaces, including details like your library card number, phone number, or medical information, etc.

Young people under age 18, especially, should not post information such as your school, age, phone number, and address.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)