by Kasie West
Meet Charlie, she is a young woman of 16 years old that from a young age has been raised by her Police officer father and 4 older brothers. She is an outstanding athlete and an all american tom boy. Until, her dad forces her to get a job and help pay for her speeding tickets and insurance premiums. Charlie is thrust into girl world when she procures a job in a women's clothing store. The proprietor hires her on the spot, but insists that she buy clothing from the store to work in. Charlie is also questioned about a parental signature and lies about her mother. She is over people giving her sympathy because of the death of an all but forgotten mom. Slowly, Charlie begins to enjoy the clothing and the make up and learns that being a girl is not a bad thing.
Meet Braden, the boy next door. The brother from another mother, Charlie's brothers' best friend. He is over at the house, constantly. Braden's life is difficult, he has an abusive alcoholic dad whom Braden wants out of his life. Charlie and Braden often will sneak out at night and meet at the fence to talk about their problems. Their friendship grows and secretly Charlie begins to think of Braden as more than a friend.
As Charlie begins to enjoy being a girl, she earns girl friends and one night meets up with a boy that she is attracted to. Charlie, the tom boy, and Charlie, the girl, go to battle. She is convinced no boy would be attracted to her if he knew about the sports and how competitive Charlie is on and off the field. Finally, she comes to the realization that she has to be happy with herself and true to who she is meant to be.
This is a wonderful coming of age story, that is very identifiable by many young women today. The dilemma of being yourself, being accepted and how does one fit into the society. Please only read if you are at least 7th or 8th grade, since some of the content is adult.
Links
Female Athletes: http://www.biography.com/people/groups/athletes-female
Raising a teenage daughter: http://life.familyeducation.com/girls/mothers/54215.html
Kasie West: http://www.amazon.com/Kasie-West/e/B00MCKM9CS
No comments:
Post a Comment