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Disclosure: I know the author. I've read dozens of her zines, but I still had no idea what an excellent fiction writer she is. This review is not inflated by my acquaintanceship with Davida, but you should know that we've met in person at least once.
Disclosure: it's harder to write reviews about books you love than books you feel meh about or hate.
When we first meet her, Michelle is a 33-year-old medical billing administrator working in Atlanta under the name Anne, a misspelling of her middle name. Most of the book takes place when Michelle, or Chelle, is in her junior and senior year of high school, in the thrall of Sissy, a rich girl with secrets. Michelle, on the other hand, lives in a trailer with her widowed mother and (half) brother, Michael. Later Morrison joins their clique. Morrison (named after Jim, by his teenaged mother), father unknown, lives in a worse trailer and also has a secret.
Through her first-person narrative we discover Michelle's troubles and insecurities in real time, as well as from the perspective of her hollow adult self. Everyone in the story is fragile, and everyone can do damage, to such an extent that there's a current of cruel empathy around it.
Disclosure: I borrowed the book in print from NYPL and dogeared a number of pages, so I could share some passages with you. I am terrible.
Towards the end, the secrets start to be revealed and related to Michelle's true identity story--the ignominious, but devastating death of her father when Michelle was 8. The calamities in Michelle's life stem from lies and manipulations that could have been harmless longterm. I liked how that revelation dawned on me simultaneous with the revelations in the book, so I was getting it as the same time as Michelle.
There's also a crack about Florida (in)justice that I won't tell you because it's a spoiler, but lol, and then the way things come together after the brush with the law is heartwarming.
Disclosure: it's harder to write reviews about books you love than books you feel meh about or hate.
When we first meet her, Michelle is a 33-year-old medical billing administrator working in Atlanta under the name Anne, a misspelling of her middle name. Most of the book takes place when Michelle, or Chelle, is in her junior and senior year of high school, in the thrall of Sissy, a rich girl with secrets. Michelle, on the other hand, lives in a trailer with her widowed mother and (half) brother, Michael. Later Morrison joins their clique. Morrison (named after Jim, by his teenaged mother), father unknown, lives in a worse trailer and also has a secret.
Through her first-person narrative we discover Michelle's troubles and insecurities in real time, as well as from the perspective of her hollow adult self. Everyone in the story is fragile, and everyone can do damage, to such an extent that there's a current of cruel empathy around it.
Disclosure: I borrowed the book in print from NYPL and dogeared a number of pages, so I could share some passages with you. I am terrible.
Most of the kids at school identified with something -- sports, movies, clothes, or music. They built identities around teams, actors, brands, and bands. I loved television, but that was somehow different, maybe because it was free. You didn't have to make an effort to watch TV. There was no street cred in having never missed an episode of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. No one cared that you knew who voiced Charlie. My identity was built around a fuzzy UHF signal.UHF, dear blob, that's an unreliable thing to develop your reputation with!
Towards the end, the secrets start to be revealed and related to Michelle's true identity story--the ignominious, but devastating death of her father when Michelle was 8. The calamities in Michelle's life stem from lies and manipulations that could have been harmless longterm. I liked how that revelation dawned on me simultaneous with the revelations in the book, so I was getting it as the same time as Michelle.
There's also a crack about Florida (in)justice that I won't tell you because it's a spoiler, but lol, and then the way things come together after the brush with the law is heartwarming.