Every time I pick up this little gem of a coming-of-age book, I find something new to wonder about. The heroine, Gillian ("Gilly") Freeborn, proves that the epistolary form is not dead. The entire novel is made up of letters from her to the Agony Aunt of a local newspaper, over such fourteen-going-on-fifteen woes as getting breasts, dorky friends, and unrequited crushes. What lifts this book up out of the ordinary plane is that Gilly is a budding writer, and this is reflected in her turn of phrase. She is so witty it hurts. Take her response to the Agony Aunt's reassurance that " 'a lot of girls go through life flat-chested and are perfectly happy.' Well, let me tell you that this news has gone down like a lead balloon in this department. Of course, thinking long term, I might save money on underwear, but who cares?" (I am quoting from memory here.) Aside from the literally laugh-a line comedy, the book has a poignant, serious undercurrent: there is something touching in her attempts to come to terms with sex, juxtaposed with her efforts to resolve her hippie-turned-bourgeois parents' marital crisis. At the height of a screaming match, Gilly muses: "And all the time I was thinking that these two fierce and furious warriors had actually _done it_, by choice." As she plays 1960s music nonstop to remind them of their lost love, we also get a glimpse into their lost _youth_; the transience of time and the changes which time wreaks on people show through the sparkling prose, like a dark shadow. In the end the shadow is wrestled to the ground, but the seriousness of the outlook, the desire to seize every moment and make the most of life, remains. I have always been surprised that this book never won a prize. It's priceless.I could go on and on, but the summary is that this is a very funny and charming book for all ages. Read it. You won't be sorry.
It is the best claire robertson book i have ever read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
this book is all about a girl that has troubles She fancys a boy and his nickname form her is THE VISION she has a flat chest and thats what she worrys about she is nealr 14
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