This Girl is Different

February 21, 2011
Having inherited rabble-rousing genes from her ultra-liberal mother, homeschooled Evensong Sparkling Morningdew, who would rather be called Evie "for obvious reasons," isn't about to be a passive student when she tries out public school during her senior year. She is shocked by the institution's conditions—"disgusting" bathrooms, no sunlight, and Styrofoam dishes in the cafeteria—and appalled by the faculty's abuse of power. When her objections are ignored, she and two friends create a blog to encourage other students to speak up about injustices. The blog creates a stir, and as Evie's peers jump on the bandwagon to point fingers of blame, feelings are hurt, and friendships and even teachers' jobs are threatened. Offering a thorough examination of the pitfalls of protest and revolution in terms teens will understand, this smart first novel will likely spark discussions about authority abuse and crossing boundaries. Rather than judging Evie's methods of precipitating change, Johnson reveals a broad spectrum of perspectives through her characters' differing sentiments, motivations, and opinions. Authority figures, who Evie initially despises, make astute points throughout the novel. Ages 12–16.

March 15, 2011

Despite warnings from her hippie mom (who stealthily places peace stickers on toy guns at Wal-Mart), Evie's eager to give up homeschooling at their sustainable home in upstate New York to spend her senior year at the "Institution of School." Outspoken Evie, with a voice so endearing and provocative that it will make readers pause often to think, quickly discovers in this witty debut that high school is full of biased rules, abuses of power and a lack of civil liberties. Only her newfound friend, popular, Indian-American cheerleader Jacinda, and her gorgeous cousin, Rajas, make the endeavor tolerable. Normally self-confident and eschewing labels, Evie can't explain why she wants to define her first love, which can leave her vulnerable and insecure. After the cheerleading coach humiliates a member for her weight, the trio sets up a blog for the People's Lightning to Undermine True Oppression (PLUTO) with a manifesto for social justice and mounts a lightning bolt to the coach's door. Their friendship suffers, and the school turns to chaos, however, when Jacinda's inappropriate relationship with a teacher is outed and students use PLUTO to air personal grievances. Learning firsthand how difficult it is to lead a revolution, Evie wonders if she's up to the challenge or if she's just the freak everyone calls her. Readers will never look at high school—or life—the same. (Fiction. YA)

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July 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Add a few years to Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl (Knopf, 2000), remove the mystical aura, plop her in northern New York state, shore up her liberal credentials (e.g., with a build-your-own geodesic dome home), mix in a healthy dose of self-righteousness, a dash of cynicism, a libido, and a hot South Asian boyfriend who is "a crunchier, leaner version of Kumar from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle."..and voila! Meet Evie. As a homeschooler entering senior year in the arena of a public high school, this stridently independent protagonist starts an anonymous blog to shed light on injustice, from the cheer squad coach who takes body image to the extreme to the teacher who may-or may not-be having an affair with a student. The ensuing chaos mixes with romantic comedy to culminate in a melodramatic resolution reminiscent of certain '80s John Hughes flicks, but Evie does undergo a degree of character reform through the process. Most of the figures surrounding this stubborn narrator lack depth, Evie's histrionics can be over-the-top, the writing is uneven, and sometimes noncontextualized pop-culture quotes jump out discordantly. Because of the novel's incorporation of First Amendment issues in this era of Web 2.0, it is worth most high schools' second tier of purchases.-Rhona Campbell, formerly at Washington, DC Public Library

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