Book Review: Story of a Girl

The other day, fellow writer, Ali Cross mentioned local author, Sara Zarr's first book on her blog, and it prompted me to read it. Story of a Girl is a realistic, emotional charged teen book that really brings the 16 year old MC, Deanna to life. You can't help ache for her, cheer for her, and want to reach in and hug her as she struggles to rise above the horrible reputation she has obtained in her small community. She realizes that she had made a big mistake when she was 13, but no one seems to want to forgive her, especially her father.

The author has an amazing ability of drawing you into a teen's life and making you feel like you are there on the page with the rest of the story. Her writing is invisible, flowing effortlessly, it appears, from her pen.

The subject matter in the story was not for younger teens and the F-word was used often. I wouldn't recommend it to my 14 year old daughter, even though I gave her Sara's most recent novel, Once Was Lost, to read a few months ago and she loved it. (There was nothing PG-13 or worse in it, like in Story of a Girl). I don't normally read books that use the F-word in it, but Sara's writing style warrants mimicing, and I was able to look past the language and enjoy her book and learn from it.