Evie has always been different. Not only has she always told herself that, but it’s also just true. Raised by her counter-culture, hippie mom, Evie has spent her whole life being home-schooled. When she decides to attend public school for her senior year, she realizes that she’s not the only person who’s different, but she also uncovers how much high school can suck. Lessons in social justice, power, and walking the line come along with growing up, but they seem to be hitting Evie all at once.
There are some really great things happening in JJ Johnson’s debut novel. Johnson is a skilled writer who has some moments of genuine humor present in these pages. She also manages to create a story that asks some hard questions without getting too over-the-top with the message. Also worth noting is how well Johnson captures Evie’s emotions and responses to her new friends and boy-crush Rajas. These moments, especially later in the book, were pitch-perfect and resonated with me as a reader.
However, there were things that never quite fit for me. It was hard to swallow the concept that Evie was the only socially conscious person at her entire school. She alone seemed to be the misfit, and while this might have been created by the limitations of a first-person narrative, it still made it difficult to find her situation plausible. She alone was the catalyst that upset the entire balance of the school? I call shenanigans.
There’s also the issue of the weird pop culture references that felt awkwardly wedged into the narrative. Characters allude to Avatar, Saturday Night Live, and Glee several times, and each time felt stilted and unnatural. While I understand the need to connect with young readers and make the teenagers in a book seem relevant, this clunky insertion into an otherwise pretty strong narrative does the opposite. Teens are savvy, and they can tell when they’re being pandered to.
Readers who stick with the story will ultimately be entertained and will enjoy Evie’s story and self-discovery. It takes a while to get going, and even longer for a skeptical reader to buy the premise, but once they do, it’s smooth sailing. Recommended to fans of the Latte Rebellion and teens interested in social justice.
This Girl is Different hits bookshelves TODAY.
This Girl is Different by JJ Johnson. Peachtree Publishers, 2011. Electronic galley accepted for review.
