Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress -- Maria Padian
Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress begins:
I've been obsessed lately with trying to pinpoint the exact moment when I got redefined.
That's one of my grandmother's favorite words. It basically means defined again. Define means to make clear; mark the limits of; identify the essential qualities or meaning of. Before my life changed from fairly decent to really bad, my self-definition was pretty straightforward.
Brett McCarthy: Only Child; Only Granddaughter; Best Eighth-Grade Corner Kicker in Maine; Diane's Best Friend.
Then came the redefinition.
Brett McCarthy: Deadest Meat in Maine and Possibly the Planet; Practically Friendless; Violent; Suspended.
Can you blame me for wanting to sort this out?
First off, while the cover of the paperback is somewhat generic, it's a huge improvement on the cover of the hardback:
Yecch. I do appreciate the designer's inclusion of the dictionary -- Brett's family is big on poetry and she loves expanding her vocabulary, titling each chapter with a word that she defines in that chapter -- but that is in no way a cover that screams, "PICK ME UP!"
Anyway. It's a readable, funny and poignant coming-of-age story about a bright girl with a big mouth who is going through a serious rough patch: having one of her best friends grow out of their friendship, having another of her best friends start to look at their relationship differently, and suddenly realizing that her beloved grandmother is... not going to be around forever. There were a few moments when I felt that Brett's cluelessness was a little bit unbelievable -- I bought it that she didn't care about clothes, but for her to not recognize the name Abercrombie & Fitch didn't ring true to me -- but overall, as a narrator, I really enjoyed her, even when she made me slap my forehead, and say, "Oh, Brett, PLEASE DON'T SAY/DO WHAT I THINK YOU'RE ABOUT TO SAY/DO."
So I had mostly positive feelings about the book, even though when it comes to my home state, I get quite a bit pickier than usual. On occasion, the references to Maine Stuff (like Gifford's Ice Cream) felt a little bit forced and awkward, but over all, I thought it really worked. I liked that there were a lot of French last names (like LaVoie and Pelletier); I liked that her while her town, Mescataqua, isn't an actual town in Maine, I had to look it up to be sure because the name sounds like a town in Maine; I liked that she used capital letters when referring to The County, as is proper; and I liked that she used the correct term for people from away -- although I don't think that any self-respecting Mainer would have put it in quotation marks.
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Book source: My local library.