Just a Girl

January 2, 2017
In small-town Wereford, Minn., high school senior Rianne has a reputation as an easy hookup: “She was Hat Trick Girl; she wasn’t someone you took to prom.” As graduation nears, Rianne finds herself with a steady boyfriend, a mother who has basically washed her hands of her, a father suddenly back in the picture, and no plans for what’s next. As in her previous books, Mesrobian (Cut Both Ways) writes meaningfully about teens who aren’t bound for college and the complexity, intensity, and double standards of teenage sexuality. Rianne’s infamous “hat trick” night mostly involved kissing. Her first sexual encounter, as a sophomore, was clearly rape—she was blitzed on pot, he was a college student—though she just thinks of it as regrettable. And most of the sex she’s had hasn’t been particularly satisfying. This depressing picture changes when she hooks up with Sergei, an attractive Russian in his 20s. Genuine sexual pleasure is a decided improvement, but as Rianne and Sergei grow closer, it feels less like she’s making decisions for herself and more like she’s still being defined by sex and men. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

December 15, 2016
A high school senior whose mother has given her an ultimatum that she must leave home immediately after graduation struggles to decide what she will do next. Bright and tough but at times self-loathing, Rianne stumbles into a serious relationship with her hook-up buddy, Luke, during their last few months of school. However, she also has several electrifying sexual encounters with Sergei, a Russian student studying at a nearby college. Despite enjoying a small, tightknit group of friends, Rianne has had to deal with being labeled a slut, and while she recognizes it for the unfair double standard it is, she is still shamed by it. The alcohol- and pot-fueled hangouts that make up a lot of the social scene in their small Minnesota town will ring true to rural teens. Rianne is a complex, conflicted character, and her third-person narrative voice keeps her at a bit of a remove even as she grapples intensely with her thoughts. All of the central characters are white with the exception of Rianne's friend Kaj, who is Hmong-American, and each is interesting in his or her own right. The unexpected ending may leave some readers wondering, but it's not a surprise that this slice-of-life novel leaves things slightly ambiguous. An authentic, smart read for older teens. (Fiction. 14-18)

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December 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Mesrobian offers another honest and emotionally charged look at the secret lives of teenage girls. Here, the author examines the abuse that girls withstand from others and sometimes inflict on one another, as well as the double standards that exist between them and their male peers. Rianne is a high school senior with a bad reputation. Widely known in her small town as a slut and nicknamed Hat Trick Girl even by her closest friends, she is struggling to make it to graduation and dreading what comes afterward. With a difficult home life, a crumbling friend group, and no serious job or college prospects, she views starting a life with Luke, a handsome hometown boy who sees past her reputation, as a good plan. Unfortunately, Rianne isn't sure she can stay faithful, at least not after she meets Sergei, a much older foreign exchange student from Russia who looks at her with new eyes and promises to take her away from her tiny town and into the wild world. Gritty and real in ways that many female protagonists are not, Rianne is more of an antihero in her quest to create a good life for herself, despite her nearly constant and seemingly avoidable failures to do so. The dialogue is refreshingly accurate; the offhand snipes between friends are particularly sharp and familiar, and the occasional pop culture references and use of slang don't feel at all contrived. VERDICT Raw and never sensationalized, this title is recommended for readers who like contemporary YA fiction with a realistically dark edge.-Emily Grace Le May, Mt. Pleasant Library - Providence Community Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2016
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* Rianne's spent her whole life in Wereford, a small, nothing town in the Midwest, living with her divorced mom, getting up to mild trouble with her friends, casually sleeping around, and not trying terribly hard in school. By the time senior year rolls around, she still doesn't have any plans for her future, and she finds herself in a relationship with notorious playboy Luke Pinsky, who's kind of loyal and sweet, if oblivious to her needs. But when she meets Sergei, a 25-year-old Russian man who's studying agriculture at the community college, she's immediately entranced by his assured worldliness and, later, the confident way he touches her, which she keeps a secret from everyone, especially Luke. When she's faced with making a definitive choice about her future, can she decide between what she truly wants and what's been deemed good ? Mesrobian is at her best plumbing the depths of what happens between big choices and elevating those potent moments of transition, and she does that beautifully here. Rianne's rich inner life, especially when it's at odds with what's expected of her, is captivatingly full of meaningful, compelling drama, and Mesrobian's frank, realistic depiction of teenage sexuality is a particular bright spot. There's nothing simple about being just a girl, and this resonant, thoughtful novel makes that abundantly, stunningly clear.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
High-school senior Rianne feels like she's gotten all she can out of her small Minnesota hometown--not to mention she's gained a reputation as "easy" there. But she doesn't see a clear alternative until meeting Russian college student Sergei. Mesrobian addresses sexual double standards and realistically examines the lives of working-class rural teens. However, despite its charged topics, the novel feels surprisingly emotionless.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)