Title: Story of a Girl Author: Sara Zarr
ISBN: 978-0-316-01454-0
Recommended Grade Level of Reader: 9th and Up
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Media Type: Book
Copyright: 2007
Genre: Fiction
Reader's Annotation: Some people make mistakes, but others make them with everyone looking.
Plot Summary: Deanna, the female protagonist, recounts an event from her past that earned her a bad reputation with her peers. The story surrounds her dad catching her having sex at the tender age of thirteen. He just so happened to find her during this escapade in the backseat of a boy’s car. The boy, her brothers now ex-friend, bragged to his classmates and, as a result, Deanna got labeled as the school slut. Story of a Girl begins on the last day of Deanna’s freshman year of high school. Events unfold over the course of the summer concerning Deanna’s two best friends, Deanna’s brother, and a summer job that goes awry.
Evaluation: (A) This story is based on the underlying theme of mistakes. Specifically, one mistake can affect many facets of an individual’s life. This is apparent in not only the plot concerning Deanna getting caught in the backseat, but also subplots pertaining to other characters such as Deanna’s brother. Zarr does an excellent job at subtly incorporating this lesson into the novel without being too preachy. Additionally, the character dialogue and Deanna’s inner thoughts are believable and could easily be attributed to a real life teenager.
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