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A review by liralen
When JFK Was My Father by Amy Gordon
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.