Reckless, Glorious, Girl
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The co-author of Watch Us Rise pens a novel in verse about all the good and bad that comes with middle school, growing up girl, and the strength of family that gets you through it.
Beatrice Miller may have a granny's name (her granny's, to be more specific), but she adores her Mamaw and her mom, who give her every bit of wisdom and love they have. But the summer before seventh grade, Bea wants more than she has, aches for what she can't have, and wonders what the future will bring.
This novel in verse follows Beatrice through the ups and downs of friendships, puberty, and identity as she asks: Who am I? Who will I become? And will my outside ever match the way I feel on the inside?
A gorgeous, inter-generational story of Southern women and a girl's path blossoming into her sense of self, Reckless, Glorious, Girl explores the important questions we all ask as we race toward growing up.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This spirited, sometimes uneven verse novel follows 12-year-old Bea's angst and joys as she transitions to middle school: "It's the saying goodbye to the old me/ while having no idea/ who the new me even is just yet." Hagan (Watch Us Rise) roots the narrative in small-town Kentucky, sketching Bea's home life and the tension between her "country smarts" namesake Mamaw, an avid gardener, and her buttoned-up widow mother, a nurse. Chapters describe how Bea is "Part Mamaw & Part Mom" and delineate the relatives' one shared trait: "Neither of Them Listens." Pacing varies across free verse chapters, with Bea's voice losing power when recounting her emotional state without evidence ("Everything feels so heavy"). But observations about how people view her Kentucky home ring true ("They see small towns/ where I see everyone I know"), and scenes of dramatic action excel especially a swim team relay, the jockeying of new friendships against old, and excruciating moments of embarrassment. Hagan's intergenerational family story offers an engaging slant on familiar early adolescent growing pains. Ages 8 11.
