RECKLESS, GLORIOUS, GIRL

In this novel told in free verse, Beatrice Miller is on the verge of 13 and trying to figure out who she will become.

During the summer before seventh grade, Beatrice is at the boundary between childhood and something else. She’s happy with her small family—eccentric and free-spirited grandmother Mamaw and more conventional workaholic Mom—and best friends—dreamy, artsy Mariella and strong, fearless StaceyAnn. But she also longs to grow into a beautiful and mature member of the popular clique. Rather than stemming from any overarching external conflict, the narrative tension emerges from Beatrice’s conflicted inner world, illustrated right off the bat through her being torn between love of her Kentucky country town (painted especially lovingly through descriptions of meals and a garden motif) and shame at being thought a hillbilly and for her socio-economic status. Every now and then Beatrice dips into territory so overly generalized as to feel clichéd (standard-issue gym-class angst and undersupervised spin-the-bottle parties), but the strong female bonds and varied characterizations elevate Beatrice’s struggles against gender expectations, whether in the form of beauty rules or teachers’ privileging boys, as she tries to find her own voice. Beatrice and her family are White; Mariella is Mexican American, and StaceyAnn has a Black father and White mother. One character comes out in a scene that highlights casual acceptance without denigrating the moment’s importance to the character.

An introspective, sensitive tale that readers can grow along with.