Today obscurists, we’re punks, not goths—that’s important. In any case, the book today is “P.R.” by Danielle Dassler, and right up front, I was delighted that this coming-of-age story blasted my expectations.
***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***
What I love about this book:
“P.R.” broke my heart more than once—I know—a strange thing to say in the section about what I loved about this book. But here is why I list this as a good thing—because I’m profoundly odd, I love a good tragedy, and without getting to the spoiler-ly part of this review yet, there is a lot of stuff in this coming-of-age novel, which is tragic.
I love how Dassler leans into all the manic ups and downs of teenage life, especially where it concerns young people who exist out on the fringe. “P.R.” is really a story colored by strong emotions that are often contradictory—like joy, rage, insecurity, confidence, love, and hate. It’s all the good and bad fused together.
In situation, if not in character, our main character, Andrea, felt at times like a modern-day punk rock “Anne of Green Gables,” if Anne were a touch more cynical and frankly a bit more interesting. Andrea’s living situation is equally odd, though, first living with her sort-of boyfriend, then with her rich friend Roxanne after he has to leave town. When Andrea is coerced into running track, and she soon discovers a passion for it, it was really satisfying to watch how she grew as a person. As the story progresses, she becomes more assertive in what she wants and isn’t just shunted along by what her social circle demands.
The final thing that I loved about this book is that Dassler doesn’t let up on the reality of the world in which her characters live. It can be wonderful and exciting, but life is no fairy tale, and for a lot of young people who come from broken homes, consequences are real, harsh, and often permanent.
What I don’t love about this book:
The mentor characters, the track coach, and Ms. Beasley compete with each other for time in the spotlight with Andrea, so they’re just concerned adult characters—but not developed into full three-dimensional people. This runs on to some of the other minor characters, too, where they feel samey and stock. The boys in the band could all be one person in my mind.
Dassler infuses so much excellent character voice and individuality into her protagonist and the major supporting characters that the contrast with the minor cast is stark. To play devil’s advocate against my own point, though, this could be a stylistic thing because teenagers are naturally self-absorbed, so the further away from themselves and their favorites, people do become pretty samey. It’s a lack of attention rather than reality.
Also, nobody’s mom is doing a particularly good job in this story—the parent characters themselves are all pretty poor, from dads who range from neglectful to outright hostile. Still, the moms don’t ever seem to do anything right. Even Crunchy Matt’s mom, who appears to be the most successful of the bunch when we meet her, feels overbearing.
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***The Spoiler part of this review***
***Ye be warned to turn back now***
The quick and dirty synopsis:
We begin with Andrea in trouble for cutting class and smoking, sitting outside the guidance counselor’s office waiting to hear the damage. During the session, talk of expulsion is brought up, but the counselor recommends against it—noting that Andrea’s heavy boots made it quite a feat for her to outrun campus security. So Andrea’s “punishment” is more creative, she’s to join the track team, which has minimum grade requirements to be on, so Andrea has to bring up her grades too.