<i>The Difference Between You and Me</i> (review)
2012; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 65; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2012.0419
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: The Difference Between You and Me Claire Gross George, Madeleine . The Difference Between You and Me. Viking, 2012. 262p. ISBN 978-0-670-01128-5 $16.99 R Gr. 9-12. Jesse cuts her hair short with scissors, wears scuffed fisherman's boots to school every day, and skips pep rallies to cover the school in flyers for the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos, of which she is the sole member. Emily is a popular, closeted overachiever who serves on student council and rigidly controls and compartmentalizes every aspect of her life. They have nothing in common, but they've fallen into a secret relationship that is mostly about making out. Then Jesse makes a new friend in fellow weirdo Esther and gets involved in her campaign against the big-box grocery store that's trying to move into town—the same company whose sponsorship of the prom is Emily's pet project. George does a splendid job of imbuing even the most unlikable characters with sympathetic complexity; Emily in particular could easily become a villain, but George portrays her with enough nuance that readers will feel for her even as they hate how she treats Jesse. The balance of relationship drama, community-protest narrative, and satiric high-school-survival tale is deftly navigated, with each plot supporting the rest as all build to an emotional conclusion. Its thematic underpinnings—letting go of your first relationship, being true to yourself, negotiating your countercultural identity, standing up for what you believe in—give the book considerable depth, but George maintains a light touch, with plenty of humor and sweetness making this a joyful read. This is a warm, complex, hopeful, and original addition to the expanding canon of LGBTQ youth literature. [End Page 455] Copyright © 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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