Claire Zulkey

After years of good grades and preparation, Cecily stands outside the door to her freshman dorm room--and promptly turns around to go home. What happened? Even she can't explain it, but fortunately her dad is understanding enough to take her back home and sort it all out later. "Later" stretches into months, and Dad's patience slowly runs out. Cecily has no idea what caused her to turn around at the very last moment, and even with the help of her friends, a psychologist, and a college show more counselor, the best she can come up with is that the time was wrong. But taking a year off isn't exactly right, either--Cecily is bored and frustrated with her directionlessness, and doesn't know where to begin fixing it. Her frustrations are straining the good relationship she has with her dad, and what hope can there be for the already-hostile relationship with her sister? This year is Cecily's chance to sort things out and get back on track--if only she knew where, or what, the track was.

Cecily's voice is full of depression, anxiety, and frustration. Watching friends grow and change in their own college experiences is a part of growing up, but without having that experience herself, Cecily finds it increasingly difficult to relate. This isn't a topic frequently addressed in teen books--college has so often become the Next Step that nobody really thinks about not going, or if they do, it's for a Clear Reason. Not to imply that turning around at the dorm room door is a great decision, but this is a great book to address those feelings of "why am I really doing this?" that can haunt high-school graduates. While Cecily is a bit brattish, it's easy to understand where that emotion is coming from.

[Disclaimer: I took a semester off in the middle of my sophomore year, involving phone calls to my parents begging to let me come home and stay there, so I do identify, at least partly, with Cecily. I could have used this book then to at least confirm that I wasn't the only one for whom college was a poor fit at that moment.] show less

Those of you following along at home may recall that getting this book turned out to be a bit of a fiasco. I ordered it from So New Media after an interesting review in Bookslut, sometime in June. Weeks went by, and finally I emailed someone at the company asking about my book. Months went by, and no reply. I talked to my sister, who knows some of the people at the publishing company, as well as the author. She promised to ask around. I emailed the company again, and they basically told me show more that they were out of that book and I could either have my money back or get the next two selections instead. But of course, what I wanted was Girls! Girls! Girls!. (And really, who doesn't?) �Happily enough, when my sister mentioned the snafu to the author, Claire Zulkey, Claire felt so bad about it that she took it upon herself to send me a copy of the book herself (with a little note inside to me! i am the coolest!) So finally I have my book, and I should ask for the refund from the publisher and send the cash to Claire instead.

But oh yes, the book! It was indeed, worth the wait. It is a collection of ultra-micro-mini short stories, featuring some fabulous reversals of chick lit, canned magazine advice, and reality as we know it. The writing is a little rough around the edges at times, but if you can get through more than three of these stories without giggling, then:
a) you're not alive.
b) you're a robot.
c) you've never thrown an issue of Seventeen/YM/Cosmopolitan across the room.
d) your sense of humor was surgically removed during a brain tumor biopsy.
e) you're not a girl.
f) you've never talked to a girl.
g) you're one of those boys who thinks women's legs are naturally hairless.
h) you think the book The Rules is filled with really good ideas.
i) this is your first time on this planet.
j) you're lying to me about the whole not-giggling thing just to get a reaction. show less

I knew right away when I read the blurb for this book it was made for me. And I was so happy that once I was done reading it that it provided exactly what I was looking for. For me the story was very realistic and relatable. I sort of unknowingly took a year off after I graduated from college and literally did nothing (I watched so many repeats of Scrubs they actual started repeating back to ones I had seen that same year!). I know that some people might have problems reading a story about a show more girl that really doesn't do anything for a year but for me it was so honest and real. It really made me think back on that time in my life.

I feel like this book could help a lot of people that are thinking about college or what's next for them in their life. Cecily takes the time to think whereas most of us just go onto college and do it because we think that's what we are supposed to do. Whereas for some reason Cecily stops herself and decides she's not ready. I think the characters in the book from Cecily's therapist to her career counselor to her friends all help make the point that most of us don't know what we are doing and are faking it until we make it. Just knowing that I think can make it easier for people.

I really liked the range of secondary characters in the book from Cecily's older sister who is just finding a job after college and trying to avoid Cecily to her father that feels helpless but wants to help her, to her brother and his girlfriend and Cecily's friends she feels like she's growing apart from. The all helped Cecily understand something about herself and helped her grow.

Because of my personal connection to this book, for me it was something special. I hope others can recognize themselves or someone they know in this book as well and get something out of it. show less

Light, fun, breezy, with a gentle punch. Judy Blume for the 21st century.