FANGIRL

Rowell, R. (2013). Fangirl. New York, NY: St Martin’s Griffin.

Cath Avery and her twin sister Wren are freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Their dad is a single father, bipolar, and works for an advertising company. Their mom left them when they were 8 years old, remarried, and wants a relationship with them again.  Here’s the thing, both loved the Simon Snow series and wrote Simon Snow fan fiction, but now that they’re starting college Wren wants nothing to do with it, where Cath is still very obsessed with it.  The girls are total opposites, Wren lives in a different dorm, carries a fake ID, and drinks way too much.  Cath doesn’t like to interact with people, has a junior-level fiction writing class, doesn’t like to do much but stay in her dorm or go to library and is known as Magicath online.  Cath’s roommate Reagon introduces her to her ex-boyfriend Levi and much to her surprise they end up falling in love in between backstabbing writing partners, writing a story she knows, worrying about drinking sister, dad being alone, and mom wanting to come back into their lives. 

This YA Fiction book won Outstanding Book for the College Bound Award. I’ve seen it often in class where some of my student’s, mainly girls, have social anxiety like Cath.  This past year I learned that if I involved them in an online educational site called Edmodo, these girls could participate with the class. Professor Piper saw Cath’s potential, gave her a second chance to do her story assignment and what do you know, she won a Prairie Schooner prize for literature.  

Reading how much she helped and encouraged Cath makes me want to be a better teacher.   

Cath is heartbroken when she sees Levi kissing another girl at a party, I’m so happy to read that she didn’t do anything stupid like hurt herself because of it.  That shows that she’s a strong person. After proving himself, she of course forgives him.  One of the themes is that of coming of age.  Growing up without a mom is tough.  She learns how to deal with her sister wanting to be in separate dorms and finding her own friends shows how much she’s changed.  I just wish that Cath and Wren’s mom would have stuck around and not bail on them again like she did.  What kind of mother just leaves her daughter in the hospital without knowing is she’s okay or not.  

Check out Rainbow Roswell’s Eleanor and Park Book Trailer by YALSA 1957.