Girlchild - Read Jim Fulner

5 sound discs (6.50 hr.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.

English language

Published Sept. 1, 2012 by Picador, Tantor Media.

ISBN:: 978-1-4526-0749-8

Rory Hendrix is the least likely of Girl Scouts. She hasn't got a troop or even a badge to call her own. But she's checked the Handbook out from the elementary school library so many times that her name fills all the lines on the card, and she pores over its surreal advice (Uniforms, disposing of outgrown; The Right Use of Your Body; Finding Your Way When Lost) for tips to get off the Calle: that is, the Calle de las Flores, the Reno trailer park where she lives with her mother, Jo, the sweet-faced, hard-luck bartender at the Truck Stop. Rory's been told that she is one of the "third-generation bastards surely on the road to whoredom." But she's determined to prove the county and her own family wrong. Brash, sassy, vulnerable, wise, and terrified, she struggles with her mother's habit of trusting the wrong men, and the mixed …

Rory Hendrix is the least likely of Girl Scouts. She hasn't got a troop or even a badge to call her own. But she's checked the Handbook out from the elementary school library so many times that her name fills all the lines on the card, and she pores over its surreal advice (Uniforms, disposing of outgrown; The Right Use of Your Body; Finding Your Way When Lost) for tips to get off the Calle: that is, the Calle de las Flores, the Reno trailer park where she lives with her mother, Jo, the sweet-faced, hard-luck bartender at the Truck Stop. Rory's been told that she is one of the "third-generation bastards surely on the road to whoredom." But she's determined to prove the county and her own family wrong. Brash, sassy, vulnerable, wise, and terrified, she struggles with her mother's habit of trusting the wrong men, and the mixed blessing of being too smart for her own good. From diary entries, social workers' reports, half-recalled memories, arrest records, family lore, Supreme Court opinions, and her grandmother's letters, Rory crafts a devastating collage that shows us her world even as she searches for the way out of it. Tupelo Hassman's Girlchild is a heart-stopping and original debut.

1 edition

JIm FUlner reviewed Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

2 stars

This story was quite different than what the description gave it. From the description I expected some poor girl who couldn't afford her Girl Scout Dues being sent off on some world wind adventure where she had to live off the land and fight bears to survive. Like a modern day "Hatchet". returnreturnInstead I got a story about a poor girl who had to fight child abuse, sexual abuse, broken families, and stupid government employees. returnreturnIt was dark. returnreturnThe story also frequently jumps between the "present' and reading old letters, old social work reports etc. Itâs hard to follow on the audio book. My guess is that there would be better hints in the actual book, maybe a different font, or intentions or something. I also really found the voice of the reader annoying, which seems frequent when I hear audio books read by women. That may say more about …

This story was quite different than what the description gave it. From the description I expected some poor girl who couldn't afford her Girl Scout Dues being sent off on some world wind adventure where she had to live off the land and fight bears to survive. Like a modern day "Hatchet". returnreturnInstead I got a story about a poor girl who had to fight child abuse, sexual abuse, broken families, and stupid government employees. returnreturnIt was dark. returnreturnThe story also frequently jumps between the "present' and reading old letters, old social work reports etc. Itâs hard to follow on the audio book. My guess is that there would be better hints in the actual book, maybe a different font, or intentions or something. I also really found the voice of the reader annoying, which seems frequent when I hear audio books read by women. That may say more about me than about female readers, Iâm not certain. returnreturnRegardless if you are into dark stories about girls fighting sexual abuse by local child care providers, I recommend the actual book, if you aren't into that kind of thing, skip this one.

Subjects

Mothers and daughters
Girls
Trailer camps
Fiction
Dysfunctional families
Families
Books and reading
Girl Scouts
Child sexual abuse
Bildungsromans
Fiction, family life, general
Mothers and daughters, fiction
Fiction, general
Child Abuse