Girl, Hero

by Carrie Jones

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEED AND CAPTIVATE After landing a lead role in the high school musical, freshman Liliana Faltin is hoping for some stability and happiness in her life.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738710512
• ISBN13: 9780738710518
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Flux
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 7 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Hero material!

First, you can't go wrong with a Carrie Jones novel. All her books are great and although they are YA that does not mean grown-ups won't enjoy them too. So if you haven't picked up a Jones book, do so. FYI: Need and Girl, Hero can be read in any order as they do not belong to a series or sequel. Read Tips on Having a Gay (Ex)Boyfriend first before Love (and other uses for duct tape). Girl, Hero did not disappoint. I adored Lily. Having lost her dad (step- but they were very close), she deals with it by writing to John Wayne, the actor. Meanwhile, she is also trying to understand her real dad and in the start of the novel they don't have such a great relationship despite him being some what active in her life. Not total absence, but not there when she really needed him either. As if this wasn't enough, she lives with her mom, who puts her fear of being alone above the welfare of her two daughters and her big sister is married to an abusive man. Lily, because she loves her family, tries to be like John Wayne and be a hero for her mom and sister. I'm not going to tell you the rest. Only that Lily comes through..not exactly as she imagines, but she does end up being a hero. Read the book. Before you realize it, you're right there with her- cheering for her, getting mad with her and maybe even crying along with her. It's a great story. And as I've said, you can't go wrong with a Carrie Jones novel!

Carrie Jones gets better with every title.

Carrie Jones has done it again. Her third book-Girl, Hero introduces a new protagonist-Liliana, a freshman whose method of dealing with all the insanities and stresses in her life is to write about them in letters to John Wayne, the one real hero she knows. Ordinarily I'm not a fan of books written in letter format, but Carrie's narrative easily transcended that reluctance, allowing me to forget almost immediately about the letters and devour the story line. Lil's parents are divorced and mom has custody. Her stepfather who she really loved and felt close to, is dead. Her natural dad, a gentle, forgetful and quirky truck driver (who may be gay) often forgets child support, but evolves into a lot more of a rock to cling to as the story unfolds. When her mom tries reconnecting with an old boyfriend she located online-Mike O'Donnell, Lil has immediate doubts about him which are validated in spades after he arrives and almost immediately starts drinking heavily and messing with her head. Toss in a part in the school play, her married sister getting beat up by her husband when she gets pregnant, an alienation from her long-time best friend, Nicole, a new friendship with sisters Sasha and Olivia whose bohemian style helps her on her voyage to become as heroic as the man she writes letters to, interesting conversations (and accompanying insights) with her 90+ year old Moravian grandmother, and a budding romance with Paolo who is everything Lil dreams of in a first boyfriend (but doesn't quite believe is real) and you have a terrific book to offer your young adult patrons. This is more polished and grittier than Carrie's first two books and addresses a number of issues teens face (friendship, substance and physical abuse, love, self-doubt and standing up to parents in order to protect oneself). I was a fan after reading her first two books; Tips for Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend and Love and Other Uses for Duct Tape. I'm an even bigger fan now. This is another young adult work of fiction that addresses the perennial lament that nobody is writing books set in Maine for teens. All in all an excellent addition to any public or school library.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Liliana's (or Lili, as her friends and family call her) world is slowly falling apart. Her mother's new boyfriend is a freak who has a nasty alcohol addiction and creeps Lili out as he stands silently outside of her bedroom every night. Then there's her father, who is a little emotional and very forgetful, who Lili loves a lot, but just can't seem to like. To top it all off, her sister is in an abusive relationship and the one person she can turn to for relief, her best friend, Nicole, has all of a sudden become a two-faced backstabber. All Lili wants in her life is a hero. Seeing that there is no one in her real life to turn to she writes letters to John Wayne. He may be a dead cowboy, but at least he is a positive influence in Lili's life and knows what it takes to become a hero. When Lili befriends Sasha, a resident thespian, she convinces Lili to try out for the school play. Thinking there's nothing to lose, Lili goes for it, hoping for the best. Along the way she meets Paolo, a wildcard in her foul hand of cards. He is sweet, caring, and extremely hot! Paolo, along with Sasha and a few others, help Lili on her quest to becoming a hero. How to tell you about this book??... It is powerful, hardcore, and utterly breathtaking. It made me cry and laugh and scream. Carrie Jones doesn't hold back and makes us realize how lucky we are to have a life that isn't infiltrated with hardship. This was one of the few books that actually made me cry. The situations that the characters were put into were told with such emotion that I couldn't help but get all worked up. When I felt the characters did something stupid I screamed, when the teens were up to no good I laughed, and most of all I cried to think that someone as sweet as Lili had to endure such pain. The whole story is told through Lili's letters to John Wayne, so we're able to really get to know the true Lili. She didn't hold anything back in those letters where she was searching for a hero. Not only was Lili's character great, but I loved how she found herself. Even though she suffered from unimaginable heartache, she was still able to find it inside herself to be the best possible person that she could be. Overall, GIRL, HERO was an outstanding book that dealt with some of the hardest subjects. There was abuse, friendship, loss, and love, which all combined to form one heck of a poignant and beautiful novel that I will never, ever forget. Reviewed by: Tasha