Normally, I run screaming from the room as if someone had offered me a raw tomato sandwich at the thought of reading yet another Girl Coming of Age Novel(tm). There are so many out there with the same tired themes and overused imagery I could vomit. I want to read a GCoAN(tm), I read Jane Eyre, or Ellen Foster; Bastard Out of Carolina if I want that depressing "what hope is there, anyway" feeling. These are all brilliant, original, blessedly written novels that make me want to chew my left hand off with the helplessness of ever writing this well. That's a good thing, people.
But I like Michelle Tea. A lot. I thought Chelsea Whistle was hilarious and loved the way Valencia opened my eyes to a dating culture I was previously ignorant of. Plus, she writes some damn fine words. On top of all that, Rose isn't really a GCoAN(tm). It's more the story of one crazy night in the life of Trisha, a 14 year-old welfare kid living one step above the slums with no direction and an open summer ahead of her. Having lived a couple of one crazy nights myself while in my early teens, I remember vividly the absolute recklessness and insanity that happens marks us forever. I don't need to know the rest of Trisha's story to know this one night will mark her as well.
One thing I've noticed about the difference between adult novels narrated from a teen perspective and teen novels that do the same is the absolute honesty in the voice of your adult-themed teens. It almost seems as if we're less afraid to write books about teens and how they truly think for an adult audience. As if teens couldn't handle the honesty of their own thoughts. Trisha is a wonderful narrator, letting herself get pulled along by the power of her own apathy. Yet, underlying the apathy is a sharply observant mind; not one of those preternaturally gifted observances that adult writers weigh down their young narrators with, but a naturally occurring "I pay attention to the world and this is what I see" openness that is raw and sometimes uncomfortable to watch. Trisha meets Rose, one of those crazyfun girls and we all know she's trouble. Trisha knows she's trouble. Which is, of course, part of the appeal. All apathetic girls love to hang out with girls who have ideas about what to do, even if it's something potentially dangerous, even if it's something that will turn your life upside-down in one night. We all see that Rose is leading Trisha somewhere no good, but we can't quite scream for her to stop. We need to watch it play out. Eventually the night has to end, right?
I don't like giving away plot points when I'm talking about a book unless it's to someone who's read it. So you're not going to get that here. Suffice to say, any novel which has a climactic event taking place in a tattoo parlor is all right by me.
Trisha's realistic engaging voice carried me through this book. It's not that I wouldn't have liked the story. It's more that I would have felt a bit too uncomfortably close to the material. I think some of us were Trishas in our youths. Some of us were Roses (and they do deserve stories of their own, those tragic, magnetic Roses). And some were Kim Porciatti, a character we never meet in the novel, but whose presence lurks underneath all the action, allowing us to get to know her as well.
Reading this, I felt I'd become reacquainted with a hidden part of my youth I'd swept away as long past. Funny how those swept-away memories are all just tingling underneath the surface waiting to burst forth with their own sort of manic joy at the sunshine.
A definite recommend. Yes, there are drugs, drinking, sex, dirty old men, and casual thievery. And every bit of it feels real. Let me know what you think.
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