The Geography of Girlhood

Smith's novel tells the story of Penny's journey through high school in a series of poems. While the trope could be tiresome, Smith's use of each poem as sort of a vignette of an individual moment or day in Penny's life is instead a lovely collage that creates the picture of who Penny is and who she's becoming. I also find that the use of poetry to portray moments is a more realistic way to narrate the time, because in all honesty, our memories aren't smoothly-written and transitioned narratives from one day to the next, they're a collection of times and people and events patched together, some standing out more than others. Smith captures the restlessness of being a teenager in a small town nicely, and I will probably be searching for show more a copy of this novel to give to a teenaged relative who's currently about to enter high school in a small town as well. show less

A novel in verse, The Geography of Girlhood provides a poetic glimpse into the tumultuous world of a teenaged girl. Narrator Penny Morrow chronicles her life from ages 14-18 in free-form verse, detailing her world of sadness, awkwardness, confusion, anger, resentment, and small victories, all told with a disarming detachment. The verses are deceptively bite-sized and easy to ingest; she doesn't wallow in her misery or reveal too much of her personal angst, but you can sense it in the white space of the pages.

Author Kirsten Smith, who helped write a number of screenplays about teenagers (10 Things I Hate About You, Ella Enchanted), expertly inhabits the mind and body of a confused teenager who has moments of clarity. Penny has a lot of show more personal issues to deal with -- an absent mother, her father's remarriage, a popular older sister, infatuation and first kisses, changing friendships -- and the verse form helps keep things succinct and to the point. No superfluous words, just the facts. It reminds us how difficult it can be to come of age. show less

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Novels told in verse usually fall into two categories: those that simply tell a story with poetry, and those that manage to capture a life so eloquently in verse that you fall headfirst into the story. THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD, thankfully, falls into the latter category. Kirsten Smith has managed to pen, through verse, the story of fourteen-year old Penny Marrow, a girl you will laugh with, cry with, and get to know very, very well within the pages of this book.

Penny's older sister, Tara, was blessed with the beauty, and the ability to cut her sister down with only a glance. Her father's hope is simply that his daughters will have listened to him enough to stay away from bad boys and make a place for show more themselves in the world. And as for her mother? She left when Penny was six, and the only thing Penny has to remind her of her mom is a snow globe. Now she has a stepmother, and a younger stepbrother, and a family life that can be summed up with "don't be like your sister."

For Penny, life is confusing, with the fights her friends have regularly and the first kiss that makes her faint and the huge infatuation she has on her sister's boyfriend. But behind it all is the wish that her mother would just come home, would be returned by the aliens who abducted her or whatever, and make everything better. For Penny, watching her father change and her sister change and herself change is too much to take without a mother. But years pass, and when she finally gets one thing that she wants--which is Bobby--it's not at all like she expected, and she loses friends and gains new acquaintances and still, in the back of her mind, she wants her mother.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD is sweet and bitter, a poignant story filled with joy and heartbreak about growing up and learning to let go and first love. Thankfully, this is a book told in verse that you won't soon forget, a definite recommended read. show less

THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD is a novel-in-verse that stares unflinchingly into the broken and confused life of a high school girl. Penny’s mother left her, her father, and her older sister Tara a long time ago. Tara is the cool older sister who hardly gives Penny the time of day, and Penny’s two best friends are drifting apart, turning into people she hardly knows.

Thus, Penny must navigate the choppy waters of adolescence by herself. Sometimes she gets things right, but most of the time she’ll make mistakes. Either way, however, her story is a real, believable, and heartbreaking one that any teenage girl will like to pick up.

A novel in verse. There seem to be more of these than there used to be. This one has a likeable protagonist, but I thought the execution lacked depth and resonance. I think I would have enjoyed the novel that's hovering just behind the poetry.

This was the first novel in verse that I have read and I really enjoyed it. Each poem gave you a sense of Penny and how she felt about each of the events in her life. The story moves her through various events in life, helping her realize who she is and making her feel more comfortable in her life. Not all of her decisions are good decisions, but she learns from each of them. One part I particularly liked is that she takes her step-brother under her wing in the way she always wished her older sister would have done for her (pg 183).

Penny is a fifteen year old, wishing she was just like her sister. Although, her sister had all the looks from her mom she was not the perfect child. As this book goes from poem to poem, Penny's attitude changes and so does her view of things. When she was little, her mother had abandoned her and her sister along with her father. Her father remarries, and at this she gets a tepmother and a stepbrother. She starts to realize that sometimes the person you least expect to fall inlove with, is the on for you. Her kindness is slowly coming out, once she finds happiness and inner peace with herself.