THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD

The mystery of a missing mother never overwhelms this coming-of-age story told in poetry, as Penny Morrow decides to test the waters and find out who she is—without rocking the boat too much. When readers first meet Penny, she’s anticipating high school, her first kiss and contemplating the wild and loose behavior of her older sister. Soon Penny accumulates experiences both funny and poignant, including a first kiss, a failed drama performance and events surrounding her father’s remarriage. But it’s the unexpected loss of the first-kiss–giver that turns Penny’s world upside down and propels her on a final attempt at living dangerously, silencing the ghost of her missing mother and putting all the pieces together. Penny’s transformation from shy little sister to mature teenager is gratifying, and readers will be enormously satisfied that Penny has grown from ditz to balanced young woman, ready to handle the challenges of adulthood. (Fiction. YA)