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liralen's review
3.0
Georgia is fourteen and lost: an American living in Brazil with her parents, who don't make the slightest effort to understand her; uninterested in school; without friends nearby. Then all of her not-doing-homework catches up to her, as does her parents' disintegrating relationship, and she's sent off to boarding school in the United States.
What's so interesting here is Georgia's inner life: because her parents are so distant, she's taken to imagining JFK as her father. He's the parent she wishes she had, patient and interested in her life and never short on good advice. Boarding school isn't a quick fix, either. It's a long way into the book before Georgia decides to make a go at improving her grades, and even then it's not a long-lasting effort.
I'd have loved a bit more complexity from some of the side characters—there's probably a lot more that could have been done with Georgia's classmates. Her friend Tim, though...he's complicated. Complicated and perhaps not as...trustworthy? as Georgia would like him to be. Or perhaps not trustworthy—'stable' might be a better word. He's such that, oh, I think Georgia would like to find sanctuary in him, but that's ultimately not really possible.
Not that this needs a sequel, but it would be really interesting to see Georgia in another few years, when she's grown/matured/come into her own some more.
What's so interesting here is Georgia's inner life: because her parents are so distant, she's taken to imagining JFK as her father. He's the parent she wishes she had, patient and interested in her life and never short on good advice. Boarding school isn't a quick fix, either. It's a long way into the book before Georgia decides to make a go at improving her grades, and even then it's not a long-lasting effort.
I'd have loved a bit more complexity from some of the side characters—there's probably a lot more that could have been done with Georgia's classmates. Her friend Tim, though...he's complicated. Complicated and perhaps not as...trustworthy? as Georgia would like him to be. Or perhaps not trustworthy—'stable' might be a better word. He's such that, oh, I think Georgia would like to find sanctuary in him, but that's ultimately not really possible.
Not that this needs a sequel, but it would be really interesting to see Georgia in another few years, when she's grown/matured/come into her own some more.
phoebemurtagh's review
4.0
I liked this book. It didn't exactly have a fairy tale ending, but that meant it was more realistic, and it surprised me with how... fulfilling a believable story can be, in that I couldn't predict the ending, and how it was kind-of a sad-but-ultimately-happier finish that spoke to life. A story is nothing, however, without good characters. Luckily, there are plenty of well-constructed, slightly strange, but again, believable characters that keep the story afloat. I think the target age is probably those between 11 and 15, not necessarily for girls younger than that, but I (as a mid-life teen) enjoyed it and really appreciate this story.
bookishdea's review
2.0
I can see the appeal of pretending that someone else is your father, when your real father doesn't exactly live up to what you think he should be. But really, this book ended up annoying me after awhile. I'm not sure why. I'm glad that she ended up "growing up" at the end, but I didn't care for her much at all during most of the book.
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