Story of a Girl

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr is a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category. It’s a realistic story about how you live with the consequences of the mistakes that you make. Deanna was thirteen when she was caught by her father in the backseat of a car having sex with Tommy, a seventeen-year-old boy. Now, three years later, she has to deal with the taunting from boys at school (everyone thinks she’s a slut) and the looks and comments from her father (he can’t forget what he saw and what he thinks she’ll do again). With the help of her older brother Darren and her boss Michael at the pizza place, as well as some advice from her friends Lee and Jason, Deanna learns about forgiveness and about confronting people with honesty so that you can move on with your life. I felt empathy for this girl as she came home everyday to a shabby house where her father not only made her feel unworthy, but also tried to make her brother and his girlfriend feel bad for having a baby and living in the basement. The author realistically portrayed this girl in the center of a dysfunctional family in a way that readers could relate to.