Like Mandarin

Washokey, Wyoming is home to fourteen-year-old Grace Carpenter, her beauty-pageant-obsessed mother, and her little sister, Taffeta. Even though Grace spends much of her time hunting for rocks in the Wyoming Badlands, she dreams of the day that she can get out of Washokey. When the infamous and gorgeous Mandarin Ramey starts paying attention to Grace and talks about the two of them leaving Washokey together, Grace can’t believe her luck. However, the mysterious Mandarin is much more complicated than Grace originally thought, and she starts to realize that underneath the facade of a world-weary, experienced woman lies a much more damaged and manipulative girl.

Debut author Kristin Hubbard has a background in travel writing, and that’s the first thing that comes across when reading her novel about a complicated friendship between two girls trapped in a tiny town in Wyoming. Her passages about the badlands and the Wyoming winds that tear through Washokey are gorgeous and moving. Make no mistake, Hubbard is a talented writer, and Like Mandarin is a strong debut.

Hubbard’s prose is almost lyrical in form, full of description and characterization that’s almost rhythmic. She creates characters–especially with Grace and Mandarin–that are real, three-dimensional, and affecting. Grace’s interests are detailed, Mandarin’s attitude is palpable, and the space that these two girls inhabit is almost oppressive it’s so well-developed. Detailed descriptions of both girls and their hometown of Washokey elevate this story above many of its contemporary YA peers.

What is particularly remarkable is the way that Hubbard places the reader in Washokey with these two girls. As eager as they are to escape this small town, the girls are also products of their environment, formed from their experiences in the town. In that respect, they’ll never fully escape from it.

Also noteworthy is how well Hubbard plays with the girls’ complicated relationship. Grace’s obsession with Mandarin starts from afar and then changes as she spends time with her. The two girls are friends in the way that teenage girls sometimes are with people that they don’t really like all that much: this is a friendship built on competition, insecurities, and jealousy, and its precarious at best. There’s also the fact that there’s an undercurrent of sexual attraction between the girls, at least on the part of Grace, who thinks about and looks at Mandarin in a way that hints at something more. Hubbard handles this question of Grace’s sexuality with restraint and subtlety, and not every reader will pick up on it. It isn’t even clear if Grace desires Mandarin or desires to be like her: to have a hold on her sexuality, to use her power to manipulate and control people the way Mandarin does. Whatever the case is, Hubbard does an excellent job of raising questions and not necessarily forcing answers.

Overall, Like Mandarin is an intense, engaging read. It’s beautiful and reflective and full of strong, interesting characters. It’s a good read for fans of realistic contemporary fiction, especially if those readers have an interest in complicated female friendships. However, Hubbard’s pacing is uneven, and the story starts off slow enough to deter some readers. For those who don’t mind a bit of meandering before entering the meat of the story, though, Like Mandarin is a good read.

Like Mandarin by Kristin Hubbard. Delacourte Press Books for Young Readers: 2011. Library copy. ( )

Grace Carpenter has lived in the same small town her entire life. Her mother forced her into pageants when she was younger but Grace sabotaged her way out of them. Now a sophomore (after skipping a grade), Grace has a few interests (collecting rocks, plotting how she might get out of her tiny town) but she spends a great deal of time stalking being mildly obsessed with Mandarin Ramey. Mandarin, a senior, is rather mysterious. She is known around town for her...loose moral character. Grace finally gets her chance to get to know Mandarin when she begins to tutor her. (If you can call it tutoring, because there really wasn’t much tutoring going on.) The two of them cause trouble around town and Grace learns what it is like to have a reputation. At the same time, Grace feels alienated from her mother. Grace’s father has been out of the picture since her birth and she feels like she lost her mother’s love when she left pageants. Now that Grace’s younger sister Taffeta (no joke) has taken up the pageant rein, Grace feels forgotten.

Okay, enough about the plot. I found the writing to be rather heavy on the description but I didn’t mind. I read this book in a day—and I wanted to finish it, which is more than I can say about a lot of books I’ve been reading lately. I wanted to find out if either Grace or Mandarin came to some life-altering realization about life. I guess they do. I was more satisfied with Grace’s ending than Mandarin’s but I will NOT spoiler the ending for you. Throughout the story, I was more fascinated with Mandarin than with Grace. This book suffers from Secondary Character Syndrome—when the side characters are more interesting than the protagonist. [a:John Green|1406384|John Green|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353452301p2/1406384.jpg] seems to want his books to have this affliction. (Tiny Cooper, Alaska, Margo Margo Roth Spiegelman) Anyway, I wanted to know more about what made Mandarin the way she is. Her story seemed like it was begging to be told but he could only grasp onto small bits of it through Grace’s perspective. It was frustrating.

There are several aspects of this book that just didn’t do it for me. I don’t want to spoil anyone’s read so I’m going to put them into a spoiler. Read at your own risk:

I really didn’t feel Grace’s alienation from her mother.
Why didn’t anyone in the town try to help Mandarin if all these men were sleeping with her? Especially when all she had was her father and he didn’t care. It seemed like it had been going on for a while.
I thought Davey was a rather ridiculous character. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I thought he was mentally other-abled for a large portion of the book. What was the point of his presence in the book? I was kind of hoping he would be proof that nice guys did exist in Washokey but that one never really crossed the finish line.


I find it rather amusing that I read [b:Unearthly|7488244|Unearthly (Unearthly, #1)|Cynthia Hand|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324782984s/7488244.jpg|9621771] last week and remarked on how few books are set in Wyoming. What are the chances that I'd read another in the same week? [b:Like Mandarin|8574517|Like Mandarin|Kirsten Hubbard|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320523816s/8574517.jpg|7168439] is set in Washokey, a fictional town that seems to be located in the Northeast corner of the state. (Just about every town in Wyoming gets a mention but I couldn't pin it down) [a:Kirsten Hubbard|3101315|Kirsten Hubbard|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1258593342p2/3101315.jpg] describes the town, environs, and weather in such a way that I could absolutely picture it all in my imagination. Then again, I've been through that area of Wyoming several times and I think seeing some of those tiny towns in the middle of nowhere really helps form the picture in my mind. Even if this book wasn't my favorite, I'd really enjoy reading more books set in this town from the author.

Overall, though, I just didn’t find Grace’s story engaging. However, it seems like many other Goodreaders did so it might be a case of wrong book, wrong time.
( )

Grace Carpenter doesn't find beauty in the Femme Fatale cosmetics her mother sells for a living, she doesn't see it in the pageants her mother enters Grace's six-year-old Taffeta in, either, The only beauty fourteen-year-old Grace really sees in windblown Washokey, Wyoming is Mandarin Ramsey.

Seventeen-year-old, Mandarin is Washokey's wild-child - and their favorite source of gossip, as well. Grace doesn't care about all the talk of Mandarin and 'her men' or the other things people say about her, she just knows that Mandarin fascinates her. What Grace wouldn't give to be like Mandarin.

But brilliant Grace, who's been moved up from ninth to tenth grade and Mandarin, a senior who's out of class almost as often as she's in it, have rarely crossed paths before. Until, that is, they're paired up for a project. Soon, Grace and Mandarin begin what might just be a friendship - and Grace is learning more than she ever thought she would about Mandarin Ramsey.

The relationship between Grace and Mandarin in Like Mandarin is unlike one I've read before. Both characters are so incredibly unique - from Grace's pageant past (and less than graceful exit) to her love of rocks and Mandarin's complexities that really come out as the story develops. At first it seems like something very one sided, that Grace really is just fascinated with this much talked about, interesting, older girl. The, though, as the two interact, we get to see how these two, so seemingly different individuals, form a friendship.

I love the way Grace's relationship with her mother and with her sister also grows and develops alongside the events involving her and Mandarin.

As with Wanderlove (which came out second but I read first), Hubbard has an incredible talent for writing settings. Like Mandarin is set in the badlands of Wyoming which might sound less appealing (to some) than Central America (where Wanderlove is) but it comes across no less beautiful and breathtaking.

I'm also starting to think she has an extreme talent for naming characters, first Bria Sandoval and Starling in Wanderlove and now I read this with Mandarin, the appealing, exotic seeming girl and Taffeta, the younger daughter that the mother has all her beauty queen dreams pinned on. Perfect character names! ( )

Hubbard, K. (2011). Like Mandarin. New York: Random House/Delacorte. 389 pp. ISBN: 978-0-385-73935-1. (Hardcover); $17.99.*

Grace Carpenter is dragged along to beauty pageant after beauty pageant by her mother. She fails miserably as a contestant because she cares more about writing and school than she does about the contests that are far too political and contrived. She has skipped a grade and is not one to seek the limelight. Now she travels to contests with her mom and her younger sister, the new beauty pageant contestant. When Grace does not win an essay contest that will whisk her with the wind to Washington, she fears that she will end up just like her Momma, stuck forever in Washokey, forever scheming to find a different course. When she is paired on a project with Mandarin, the town’s wild child, Grace is both attracted and repelled. Mandarin offers her friendship and the status of being with the most talked about student in the school. It is difficult for Grace to make friends; this offer is huge. Grace is shy. Mandarin does what she pleases when she pleases. She knows all of the rumors about herself and does not seem to care, although she loves getting even by pulling anonymous pranks on the town. Like Grace, she yearns to escape Washokey, but first she must decide what she wants to do about high school. Grace is smart enough and pliable enough for Mandarin to use as a graduation ticket, or so she thinks. Mandarin convinces Grace to bolt from Washokey for the sunny shores of California. They make a plan to leave just before Grace’s trip to Washington, which, it turns out, she did win, when it is discovered that Peter Shaw plagiarized his winning essay. With each prank and each adventure that Mandarin swirls them into, Grace becomes increasingly nervous about their plans. She admires Mandarin’s bold, assertive nature and wild beauty but she begins to detect some serious character flaws stemming from her neglectful, drunken, dysfunctional family. Will the lure of having a larger than life whirlwind friend blow Grace off course? Like any good wind, like the Santa Anas in California or the Mistrals in France, they may not be able to blow a rock completely off course, but they are very likely to alter it—and sometimes that is for the best. This is a finely crafted, poetic first novel that deserves to be in every high school library.

Like Mandarin was one of those books that I literally devoured from start to finish. It drew me in literally from the first page with Grace's description of her hometown and her life growing up. This book is everything that a normal teenage girl faces in her lifetime. From jealousy, to regret, right down to that awkward feeling you get when you just don't seem to understand the relationship between you and your mother anymore. Grace's life is so real, so palpable, that it's hard not to get wrapped up in who she is. There are so many different types of relationships explored in this book that it becomes a whirlwind read and before you know it, it's over, leaving you wanting more.

In terms of characters, this book is a veritable playground of different personality types. Those of you who love character driven books will melt into this book! Grace is nothing at all like a lot of the YA female protagonists out there. She is her own person, and you won't find one bit of whiny or vapid person in her. Grace is just...Grace. A girl who is a little lost, extremely intelligent, and just lonely overall. Enter Mandarin. To say that Mandarin pops off the page is a complete understatement. Where Grace is like a softly blowing wind, Mandarin is like a tornado. At 17 years old, she is promiscuous, openly defiant against all adults, and really doesn't seem to give a damn who sees it.

Grace sees it, and she wants it. She follows Mandarin's every move, watching the way she holds herself and the way she reacts to things. Grace becomes entangled in pleasing Mandarin and trying to continue to be interesting to her so that their "friendship" won't fall apart. If you're starting to think that this sounds like a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, you're kind of right. However it goes so far beyond that. Grace doesn't just want to be with Mandarin, she wants to be Mandarin. She craves that free spirit and the ability to let go of what everyone else thinks. Unfortunately people like Mandarin are often lost and lonely themselves, and Grace ends up in a very manipulative relationship.Truthfully the tension and chemistry between these two characters is beautifully written. If they don't draw you in, I don't know what will.

I'm rambling now so I'll wrap up here. Like Mandarin is a story about relationships of all kinds. Those between mothers and daughters, those between "friends", and even the relationship you have to learn to have with yourself. Kirsten Hubbard's writing shines of the pages in this book, and her characters are sure to grab you and draw you in. I cannot recommend you reading this book enough! Beg or borrow a copy, whatever you have to do. Grace and Mandarin are well worth your time, and I can't wait to get my own copy and read it again. ( )