The Only Girl in the Car: A Memoir
by Kathy Dobie
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Description
The Only Girl in the Car Bookworm and dreamer, Kathy was a young girl with a tender heart, an adventurer's spirit, and a child's terrible confusion about her proper place in the world. As the oldest daughter in a family of six children, she seemed trapped in her role as Big Sister and Mommy's Helper. Then, one day, teetering on the brink of adolescence, hormones surging, she heard someone call her "cheesecake," and suddenly saw her path. "Cheesecake, jailbait, sex kitten"--the very words show more seemed to be "doors opening" to a splendid new self. But from the moment she decides to lose her virginity and reels in her prey, a "full-grown man," fourteen-year-old Kathy is headed for trouble. One cold, raw March night some months later, parked in a car with four boys on the outskirts of her small suburban town, she finds it. Though she could never have foreseen the outcome of that night, the "boys in the car could just as well have been Gypsies foretelling my future," she writes. Girls who break the rules in small towns like the one she lived in are expected to pay a very high price for their transgressions--and she did. And yet...this young girl, as scrappy a protagonist as any in our literature, manages to transform her fate. The story of how she came to be in that car, and how she stepped out of it forever altered, to be sure, yet not forever damaged, is the theme of this extraordinary coming-of-age tale. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Despite the graphic nature of some scenes in this book (let's face it - they see worse in movies), The Only Girl in the Car is essential reading for any teenage girl. In a world where sex is everywhere, and girls are losing their virginity earlier and earlier, this book illustrates the trouble being too free with your body can lead to. Sex can be a beautiful thing, especially when you are just discovering your sexuality, but it can also be very, very ugly. Many parents are reluctant to discuss sexual matters beyond the 'what's happening to me' talk. Yet, without our guidance, how can our girls learn the difference between the beauty and ugliness of sexual encounters? It is our responsibility as parents to move past our embarrassment or show more conservatism and teach girls how to behave in the world they live in (vastly different from when we grew up). This book is a perfect example of the ugliness that can result if girls do not learn to control their sexuality. show less
Out of control girl looking for love in all the wrong places. The author shares an honest, self-portrait of her teen sexuality.
hanging out with boys in cars... never a good idea
good book though
good book though
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370 works; 66 members
Author Information
1 Work 240 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2003
- Important places
- Hamden, Connecticut, USA
- Dedication
- To James, who from the moment he heard this story said that one day I must write it down
- First words
- In the spring of my fourteenth year, the Earth blossomed with men and boys, staggered under the weight and richness of their profusion.
Let me show you the house of my childhood. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I'd stepped straight into it one night in March, an ice-cold night when I was fifteen.
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 974.6 — History & geography History of North America Northeastern United States (New England and Middle Atlantic states) Connecticut
- LCC
- HQ798 .D58 .A3 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women The family. Marriage. Home Youth. Adolescents. Teenagers
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 240
- Popularity
- 134,950
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.46)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
