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Cette Fille Est Différente (2014)

by J.J. Johnson(Favorite Author)

3.56 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Alice Editions

review 1: Evie has been homeschooled her entire life, but just once she wants to try out public school, before going off to college. A big fan of John Hughs' work, she has ideas about school that are all about to change.I don't know why I didn't get to this sooner. I enjoyed the mix of idealist and realist that is Evie, I loved that she was capable of liking different types of girls, her feminism, and how her ideals are brought up against reality. The romance plot never relies on stupid contrivances to keep the two apart, and Evie learns that there are consequences to her actions that don't care about her good intentions. Mostly I loved this book because of how different it seems to be from other YA reads lately. Even though Evie falls into insta-attraction, she's sufficiently aware... more to recognize it for what it is.It's a book about a high school senior learning to see the shades of gray that are everywhere, and adjusting her ideals accordingly (and no, that doesn't mean dropping them). charming, but never twee.Electronic file for review from publisher.
review 2: I liked spunky Evie, leaving her comfortable home-schooled, "counter-culture" self-sustaining upbringing to spend her senior year of High School in the social experiment of "The Institution of School!" I know & love many home-schoolers which piqued my interest here. Evie has unconditional support from Martha/Mom. Martha was unconventional,(and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree) but she had a great relationship with Evie. Evie is comfortable with who she is & where she came from. As she milks Hannah Bramble, yes they have a cow, she appreciates her roots. "Home. Everyone on earth should have a place where they feel this peaceful." Meanwhile at school Evie, naive, well-meaning, well-spoken Evie navigates her new world with gusto! Not a wallflower, the new-kid with her two new friends, Jacinda & Rajas, takes the new social & educational challenge head on. Well-read & not fearful of using her intelligence & education, she speaks her mind but discovers: "In the movies, everyone hates HS, and I'm starting to comprehend why. It has nothing to do with the pedagogy or educational philosophy. It's the humans. Like Sartre said in NO EXIT, 'Hell is other people.'" On the silent treatment from an upset Jacinda, "How can wordlessness be so "darned" loud?" Due to mounting detentions, she finds herself in the principal's office more than she wishes. There she meets one my favorite characters in the book, the "soothing" & sympathetic Mrs. Franklin, who offers tea or a sweet to a stressed-out Evie or Martha! Tho Evie is bristling at the school rules she finds confining, she learns that actions have long-reaching consequences. "...visions of my future whirl in my mind, blurred images being sucked down a drain. This school is a gigantic toilet, flushing away my chance at Cornell." And later, "...now that things are devolving into such a tar pit hellhole." She finds herself in a course she didn't register for, "Social Justice 101: Learning what happens when the revolution you've started turns around to bite you in the butt." "If a tree falls in a forest and no one updates its status on Facebook, does it make a sound?"On a search for an escaped pet snake, she stops to appreciate the home's library - my kind of room: "The books. They encase the perimeter of the room...organized...Big candles are interspersed with his books. It's a shrine to literature...Soul medicine." I should add some the titles she listed to my "To Read" list.Loved the quotes that head each chapter. Fun YA read. less

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