Suzanne H. reviewed on 9/21/2013 + 23 more book reviews

Story of a Girl, by Sara Zarr, is about a girl named Deanna and her attempts to deal with difficult situations in her life, such as being labeled a slut at school, her father's apparent rejection of her, and the fact that her two best friends are dating each other, leaving her feeling jealous. But it's mostly about forgiveness. I enjoyed the character of Deanna, as well as the other characters in the book. Zarr did a nice job making the story feel realistic, for the most part. I only gave it three and a half stars because of a few things; namely, the fact that the male character in the story (Tommy) doesn't face the consequences of his actions. That Deanna is treated as a slut by her own family, rather than a victim of a crime. It upset me that the adults in this book never truly came to the realization of what actually took place, never actually talked to Deanna about what happened. What happened was a crime, even if the participants themselves (Deanna and Tommy) didn't see it that way. Although the idea of adults failing kids is a realistic one, I hate reading it. I wanted vindication. Justice. something. Also, I got confused at the end as to what was actually said to Deanna's friend Lee and felt that the issues between Deanna and Lee were never solved. The ending didn't feel like much of an ending, either. So, this book was shy of making 4 stars for me (I liked it okay, but didn't love it and am not sure I'd recommend it).

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