The Silk Road: A Novel

Paige is a teenager. And she has a story to tell about her teenage years, growing up in Hell, NY.

Summer does too good a job with Paige, because she is exactly, I imagine, the perfectly-constructed American high school teenage girl. Not having been to high school in the USA, yet having had ample opportunity to listen to many stories of miserable high school life as well as watching god-awful American films made about this era of the life of the American creature, I think Paige is perfect. She is intelligent, but not smart. She cares too much about what others think, and this leads her to either rebel or succumb to peer pressure. She is overly critical of everything and overconfident in her own invincibility, but the American show more insecurities show in matters of sexual expression. The need to always have an example, set rules somehow don't bother Paige in anything, except for her sexual feelings. Like all small towns in America, there is not a lot of religion, but still sex, sexual orientation, gender identity are difficult concepts.

Paige has an additional problem, though. The object of her obsession and stalking is a married woman 20 years older than Paige, who is emotionally bruised. But Paige perseveres, and life goes on. Perhaps that last bit, about life going on, is most essential in the book. High school happens, you fall in love, you stalk someone, you wonder if they like you, you lose your virginity, high school ends, and life goes on and on.

For me, it is impossible to like most American high school kids. Paige is not an exception. She's annoying, most of the time. Hence the 4 stars. show less