Capricious

March 1, 2014
This verse novel follows a girl juggling two boyfriends and trying to cope with her rival at school. Sixteen-year-old Ella loves two boys. She's sleeping with Samir and cares for him, but she also loves David. She insists David is just her good friend but knows that underneath, it's really a romance, and she may even prefer David to Samir. Meanwhile, she tries to avoid Genie, a girl at her high school who hates her because of her own crush on Samir. Things with Genie come to a head when circumstances force her to agree to participate in a bikini carwash. Samir strongly disapproves, but Ella shows up in a vintage 1950s two-piece bathing suit that allows her to attract more attention than anyone else while showing far less skin. To retaliate, Genie and her clique take Ella's clothes, leaving her stranded in the bikini behind a gas station for hours into the night. Eventually Ella must come to terms with her relationships with both boys and with the girls. Prendergast's unrhymed verse not only tells the tale, but varies form and line length, the clipped rhythms capturing Ella's emotional turmoil. The story touches on different religions with nuance: Samir is a devout Muslim; David is a Jew; Ella and her family are Catholic; Ella's sister is dating a Mormon. Sensitive and compelling. (Verse fiction. 12-18)

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April 1, 2014

Gr 10 Up-Sixteen-year-old Ella says she is not like other girls. She is a rebel: she lies, has sex, and takes naked pictures of herself. Still reeling from the fallout of her provocative art project, arrest, and acquittal of pornography charges-in Audacious (Orca 2013)-Ella is adrift. She is sleeping with Samir and leading him to believe that she is just friends with David, though that is not exactly true. "Isn't that the point?/To Frankenstein/Two boys together/Making a perfect boyfriend?" she asks. But a boyfriend will not fix Ella's desire for identity and acceptance, and things fall apart in a predictable way. This novel in verse is a quick read, thanks to the format and the dramatic plot. Prendergast varies the style of the narrative, seamlessly integrating rhymed couplets, acrostics, and more. The narrative feels inflated at times, as Samir deals with his estranged gay brother, David copes with his brother's drug addiction, and Ella navigates myriad thorny relationships. The secondary characters are largely reduced to two-dimensional traits (the Muslim boy, the asthmatic sister, the wise disabled friend), but Ella stands out as realistic and nuanced. Though Ella's story is one of alienation and discontent, it ends on a hopeful note as she begins to repair her relationships and her own fragile sense of self-worth. Her candid approach to sex, lies, and friendship should attract a wide audience, especially readers who are drawn to deep and sometimes dark issues.-Amanda MacGregor, formerly at Apollo High School Library, St. Cloud, MN

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