Story of a Girl

Reader reviewed by lia

Deanna Lambert is still dealing with what happened between her and Tommy Webber in the back of a Buick down at the old Chart House parking lot. She was 13 at the time. Tommy, her older brother's supposed best friend, was 17. They had been "dating" secretly before things got sexual. And then Deanna's father found them in the back of that car. At school Tommy couldn't keep his mouth shut. Even at such a young age, Deanna was known as the school slut.

Three years later, she still has to hear the slander. Most popular versions of the story: "Deanna Lambert is a total nympho&Deanna Lambert is a complete psycho&Deanna Lambert is beyond pathetic&" And to make matters worse, her father still won't look her in the eye.

When her English teacher, Mr. North, suggested they start a personal journal as a place to "express your feelings," Deanna began the story of "the girl on the waves." By doing this, she gave the girl "personal feelings I didn't want to feel." The girl would think about her dad and the happy times they shared when she was a child. These were times before the girl's dad ignored her.

In addition to her non-existent relationship with her father, things aren't necessarily peachy. Deanna's brother, Darren, and his girlfriend recently had a baby and are unhappily living in her parents' basement. And no matter how hard Deanna's mother tries to pretend things are okay, the pieces of their family life are still falling apart.

Deanna loves her brother, his girlfriend and their baby. She dreams of one day living with them --- in their own apartment. Then they might all be happy. Inspired by her idea to find her own place, Deanna gets a summer job to start saving money. Little does she know that her job at a crummy pizza place will make her face her past head on. She'll finally address why she did what she did with Tommy and how she feels about it now.

This is a really good book but its not really what i expected and the end is not really expected either.