Sometime in the 70s, a 14 year old girl named Mary Jane, invisible and respectful in her own highly conservative (with all the connotations that brings), takes a job as a kind-of full time babysitter in a much more progressive household. What follows is a coming-of-age in the most formative summer of her life time, and one which encapsulates the spirit of the era in subtle and often poignant ways.

I can’t recall the last time I did such a 180 with a book. Up until about 20% or so, I was thinking very seriously about putting it down. It feels granular and inane up until May Jane begins her summer job and the dynamics, orchestrally arranged, between Mary Jane’s parents and herself are shown to be diametrically opposed to that of her employers.

The father is a therapist, a very new profession and a very misunderstood one at the time, and are liberal is all the ways Mary Jane’s parents are not. And as she is free to take up more space and express herself and her ideas, while also able to utilize the skills her own housewife mother has taught her so rigorously, there is a unique synergy that happens. She learns what it’s like to take care of other people, but also to be around people who show their emotions and hug her and kiss her and give her affirmation. When you drill down to what she’s given, it might be said that it’s just space to grow, where in her own house she is constantly stymied by conservative rhetoric that puts women in “their place”.

Then, even more upheaval is caused when the therapist accepts the charge of a famous rock star and model-actress couple dealing with respective addictions, bringing sex, drugs, and rock and roll into the mix—but in a structural way that makes sense. It’s not there for the usual reasons. The ethos is there but it’s not for shock and awe and it’s not steeped in nostalgia.

Mary Jane is both impressionable to all these new concepts, which is how she is exposed to the ethos of the era, but also good at setting boundaries and questioning everything. All the cliched representation you’d expect from a rock star dealing with issues are not present, and it’s surprisingly effective and refreshing.

For instance, MJ’s coming-of-age is sexual but not via sex itself. She’s thoughtful and has a rich inner life and examines herself through the lens of how others perceive her and by being around people so unlike her that she can’t help but slot the changing times into her own lens. Clothing styles are getting more free. She meets a woman who isn’t a housewife and reckons with the idea that not all women function as her mother. Music ignites her and galvanizes her. There’s a lot going on and it all meshes beautifully, but subtly.

The dynamics between all the characters are also stand-out and extremely fantastic. Slowly but surely, the heart of this book reveals itself; person by person, interaction by interaction. There are some genuinely heartwarming moments between the girl Mary Jane is caring for, especially when she has to contextualize what is happening around her for the little girl, thereby having to process it and express herself when she otherwise might not have questioned it. And it also makes her confronts her own childhood.

The much elusive voice in young adult is also completely perfect here as well. She sounds like a 14 year old in the content of her thoughts, how she expresses herself, and the context she applies to situations, but also sounds like a character. What we read is the most compelling aspects of her. A simple feat many YA authors fail at (especially lately with the books I’ve been reading).

It’s a very clever and fresh take on the genre and I think it could actually be a five star read if I come back to it already understanding what it was trying to do from the beginning. But as is, I can’t discard that for the first bit I was pretty bored until it clicked with me; at which point I saw how clever it was. Certainly worth a read. A very pleasant surprise.

On a final note, The New York Times compared this to Daisy Jones and the Six and Almost Famous—do not—have any of that in your head when you go into this. It implies aspects of the era that are not present and do not make sense at all for the story this book is trying to tell. I think that’s a very foolish comparison.