Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

I don't think I even have the words for all the feelings I have about this book. Rowell tends to do that to me. It's not even fair.

In this book, the main character, Cath, and her twin sister, Wren, are starting college and exploring everything that it means for both of them. Despite the fact that they're identical twins, their personalities are very different. Cath is the introvert who sits at home and writes fan fiction, while Wren is the party girl who goes out and gets drunk. When they register for dorms, Wren doesn't want to live with Cath and Cath is heartbroken because she doesn't want to share space with another person.

But it's totally OK, because then Cath has to live with Reagan and Reagan is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone ever. She is snarky and tough and kind of a bitch, but she means well. She's an upperclassman who did not want to have to deal with a freshman being all freshmany, but she finds herself taking care of Cath despite herself. Cath is just that helpless.

I know that John Green has been loaded with praise for his YA books, and that he's been called the "teenage whisperer". I don't want to belittle his writing, because I'm a fan of his as well, but I also don't want to heap praise on a man whose writing is impressive just because he's a man. If I had to choose between the prominent YA writers of our day, I think I would have to call Rowell the true teenage whisperer. She gets teenagers like nobody else does. Yes, teenagers are awkward and they don't know what to do with themselves, but they think they know what to do, so they go ahead and disaster happens and we enjoy reading about it. If you were wondering what this recent YA craze is about, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

The problem (at least as I see it) is making teenagers realistically awkward without making me want to slap them. Rowell nails it. I love Cath. I frequently did not understand her decisions and spent much of the book urging her to just do it already, but I never ever wanted to hit her. She's too delicate. And too lovable.

I think Rowell manages this by giving Cath chances to be strong. She won't stand up to her teacher, but she'll rush to the hospital and nurse her dad back to health when no one else will. She tries to make sure he eats right and she's constantly checking on him to make sure he isn't teetering on the edge. All of these are things that no teenager should have to deal with, but Cath takes it all in stride. Yes, she tries to chicken out and quit after her first semester of college, but her dad doesn't let her, and in true storybook fashion, it all works out for the best.