Everything Must Go

July 15, 2017
Flora, a "white, wealthy, and able-bodied" Manhattanite fashionista, hoped to win her tutor's affections by attending the rural, Quaker-run boarding school that's his alma mater during her junior year of high school.Now, three years later, she uses archived documents including journal entries, emails, and press clippings so readers see "the story happen in just the way it happened, in all its urgency and all its absurdity." She details her rocky adjustment to a school that includes all the expected stereotypes: gradeless classrooms, rustic accommodations, and vegan cafeteria options. Avoiding commentary on personal appearances, or "shell speak," is especially difficult for Flora. And the sense that she's merely playing a role leads to feelings of social isolation. But after her tutor "fucks and ducks" on Flora, the school's artistic opportunities facilitate her examination of whether "baseless love, this love that doesn't have to be earned" exists or whether even consensual sexual acts are transactional in nature. Fittingly, Flora doesn't necessarily reach an answer, though her wryly inserted modern commentary on her younger self indicates that present-day Flora continues exploring ideas on appearance and social interactions. The core of Flora's journey presents opportunities for readers to grapple with gender, sex, race, classism--even Marxism--although detailed explorations of all those complicated topics are too much for a single narrative. Thoughtful and provocative, if a tad overstuffed. (Fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from August 14, 2017
Vintage-fashion queen Flora Goldwasser falls hard and fast for her private-school tutor, photographer Elijah. After agreeing to do some modeling for him in some of her best 1950s outfits (always with her face concealed), she becomes an online fashion sensation as “Miss Tulip.” On a whim, Flora quits her exclusive New York City private school to attend the Quaker “upstate-New-York-hippie-school” where Elijah will be teaching the following year. But he doesn’t show up, and Flora is stuck at the Quare Academy, which promotes organic lifestyles and discourages “shell-speak” (comments about a person’s appearance). Flora struggles to retain her fashion edge in a world of “tattered tunics,” unshaven legs, and kale, and along the way manages to create her own brand of activism. Written through text messages, blog posts, letters, journal entries, and more, Davis’s smart and witty debut captures a girl’s changing attitude and gradual acclimation to a very different environment. Filled with vibrant characters, it balances gentle jabs at pop culture and self-righteousness with thought-provoking ideas about feminist ideals and human frailties. Ages 14–up. Agent: Miriam Altshuler, Defiore and Company.

August 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Flora Goldwasser creates a diary that speaks to readers directly, recounting the tale of how her brief relationship with an older man (a college-age tutor) not only turned her into a social media darling but also into the kind of lovesick teenager who would move to his alma mater because she thought it would bring him back to her. Flora poses for Elijah, never dreaming that her devotion to and knowledge of vintage fashion will bring her a cult following. Flora remains loyal to Elijah long after she starts her junior year at Quare, an exclusive school with only 16 students per year. Quare cultivates an environment that is intended to encourage student inclusivity; this includes shunning any discussion of privilege or "shell speak" about superficial looks or things that cannot be changed. Flora initially struggles to fit in given her feelings and propensity toward fashion and material goods. She slowly begins to make a place in Guild, the school's drama group, where she is able to turn her anger into a project for school when Elijah leaves her the day after they have sex. Her friendships, both new and old, and her strong ties with her family are well-portrayed. Told via letters, emails, and journal entries, this book insightfully handles a problematic relationship and presents a flawed, intelligent, and well-crafted protagonist. VERDICT A good choice for public and high school libraries.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 When Flora meets Elijah, her fashion-forward and feminist photography tutor, she is inspired to leave her Manhattan prep school for Quare, an alternative Quaker boarding school that Elijah attended in upstate New York. When Elijah doesn't return to Quare as planned, Flora is on her own and in culture shock in an eco-obsessed community that fosters open-mindedness and creativity. What seems like a hopeless decision at first turns out to be exactly what Flora needs to produce her best work yet: a hybrid performance art piece and stage play that garners national attention. As she lets down her walls and embraces the Quare community, Flora gains meaningful friendships and self-acceptance. The non-narrative format consisting of letters, e-mails, and journal entries is far from unique in contemporary YA, but what could have been an unremarkable love story is instead an introspective, feminist, nuanced story that is difficult to place in any one box. This standout debut is as empowering for readers as it is for its protagonist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)