THE LOWDOWN:
Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna’s new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can’t know.
Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer.
FIRST IMPRESSION:
In the happy times, in the tell-me-again times, when I’m seven and there are no stepbrothers and it’s before the stepfathers, my mom lets me sleep in her bed.
Her bed is a raft on the ocean. It’s a cloud, a forest, a spaceship, a cocoon we share. I stretch out big as I can, a five-pointed star, and she bundles me back up in her arms. When I wake I’m tangled in her hair.
“Tell me again,” I say and she tells me again how she wanted me more than anything.
“More than anything in the world,” she says, “I wanted a little girl.”
—paperback edition
SNAPSHOT:
Despite a cover that evokes softly lit summer romances and stolen kisses in attics, this is not your mama’s YA romance. There’s hardly anything romantic at all, as Anna goes through boys as quickly as they go through her, using and abusing each other, attempting to fill the void left by her absentee mother.
Everywhere Anna turns, no one stops her from making poor decisions. Society lets this girl slip through the cracks one bad relationship at a time, until she has dropped out of high school and moved into her own small apartment. Even Sam, the supposed good guy of this story, doesn’t help Anna question whether or not what she is doing is healthy. He—and especially his mother—merely give Anna better options.
Told in bare, precise language, Anna’s emotional mind seems frozen in ‘before’. It is perhaps the raw, childlike quality of her narration that is most uncomfortable—revealing even the good times as too private—making the reader feel like just another pervert peering in on this sad girl’s life.
While the conclusion is not as neatly wrapped as some might hope, it is a hopeful note. All of the Anna’s in the world would do well to remember that sex does not equal love does not equal caring. Talking does not mean you’re communicating. Being on your own does not mean you’re independent.
Appropriate for ages 14+. Strong language, alcohol use, intense and graphic sexual situations. More impressionable readers would benefit from conversations about Anna pursuing empty relationships/sex and dropping out of high school.
Deals with neglect, abusive relationships, sexuality, sexual abuse and assault, self-respect, and giving yourself permission to learn to love. The world fails people sometimes, but it’s never too late to start making things right.
GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
– Enjoy books that make you want to punch the world
– Know someone who has felt neglected and profoundly lonely
– Have a place in your heart for a damaged heroine
– Ever wondered what leads some people to search for love in all the wrong places
THE ESSENTIALS:
Contemporary YA
Paperback & Ebook, 240 pages
Published January 15th, 2013 by St. Martin’s Press (ISBN 1250007119)
http://us.macmillan.com/usesforboys/EricaLorraineScheidt
(Review copy provided by St. Martin’s Griffin.)