To my intense dismay, there was nary a SVH or BSC book to be found. How could this be? Am I really that old, that books that sold thousands and thousands of copies aren't even at the Goodwill anymore? How sad. However, I did find and buy a Norma Fox Mazer I'd never read before: When We First Met.
Some background about my love for Norma: After the Rain is one of my favorite YA books. I still own it, but I think it may be at my mom's, or in a box in the spare room. I also love Silver, and I had A, My Name is Ami and B, My Name is Bunny when I was a kid. I read E, My Name is Emily in the past few years (got it from the library) and it was sorta weird, there was this whole two-girls-kissing-one-guy scene which seems a little kinky for YA, and then they trick the guy into kissing one of the girls' brother. I am not a homophobe at all, but I think it's a weird thing to do, and in general, icky to trick anyone (especially a 12 year old boy) into having a homosexual experience. Girlhearts was kinda eh for me, too.
So, I had high hopes for When We First Met, since it was written back in the day (1982) so I was expecting something more of AtR caliber. The synopsis:
Jenny is 17 and has been described as "a Modigliani girl" and says after that she has never felt pretty. If you, like me, have no clue what a Modigliani painting looks like, here you go:
As far as being compared to art goes, I don't think it's that bad. As the novel opens, Jenny notices a new kid in her drama class, a blond boy with rainbow suspenders and "the face of an angel." But it's March, a sad dreary month anyway, but extra sad for Jenny and her family, because older sister Gail died in March two years ago.
We are introduced to Jenny's mother in chapter two, who is dealing with having lost a child better than most people in YA tend to. (No talking to her dead kid ala Andie and Jack's mom on Dawson's Creek, for instance.) She does send red roses and a mean letter to the woman who ran Gail over. See, Jenny refused to run to the store for Gail, so Gail had to ride her bike in the rain to pick up cream, and was hit by Nell Montana, who is described as a drunk driver. So Jenny's mom writes to Nell on the two year anniversary to remind her of the accident, as Jenny's mom is sure Nell doesn't think about Gail ever.
Jenny continues to see Angel Face at school, at her part time job at a burger joint, and finally Jenny and her BFF Rhoda run into Angel Face and one of Rhoda's groupies, and the four go for pizza. Every time Jenny sees Angel Face, they stare, smile, look away, then sneak glances again- Jenny tries to think how to start a conversation with him. Then We learn Angel Face's name- Rob Montana. Uh oh.
So, Rob spends a lot of time convincing Jenny it's ok for them to be attracted to each other, which Jenny resists on account of her family and how she knows they will feel about this. Rob claims his mother was NOT drunk, had only had one drink, and in fact is very remorseful about the accident. Eventually Jenny agrees they can be "friends" as Jenny and Rob, no last names, no baggage. Things go well. They fall in love. Jenny meets Rob's mom, who seems weird and a little mean to me, but Jenny says she likes her and starts to have some sympathy for the other person whose life changed two Marches ago.
Eventually Jenny brings Rob home, her family goes ballistic and order Rob out of the house, and insist Jenny break up with Rob. She refuses for a while, then complies, then realizes it's not fair for her family to tell her who she can and can't be in love with, as she can't be happy without Rob. It ends with Rob writing her a letter saying he still loves her, and Jenny leaves to go see him after he gets off work, telling her parents she's going to see Rob. Her parents aren't happy, but tell her to be careful and ask if she needs any money. So her parents have decided to accept Jenny's love for Rob, although they still don't approve.
I sort of rushed that for two reasons: 1. The book was a little boring. 2. My favorite part of booky blogs is when I get to the list at the end.
- Jenny's best friend is Rhoda Rivers. I wish I had my copy of After the Rain because I'm pretty sure the main character in AtR mentions being "A Rhoda Rivers watcher", because Rhoda is a fascinating dresser and outgoing personality. I freaking LOVE crossover events, even ones as small as this- I like thinking about characters existing in a universe together.
- Rob's mother, Nell, is 36 at the time of the accident. Rob would have been 15. At 17 he claims to have an older sister who's since moved away (to college?). So Nell had her first kid at 19 or earlier. I always do that sort of mental math about characters.
- At one point, Jenny and Rob have been dating for two months (although they always refer to each other as being "friends", which I find weird) and they talk vaguely about getting married someday. I find that very realistic and refreshing- I talked about marriage with my boyfriend when I was 16, too. I think most teenagers take themselves and their relationships very seriously, and I don't like when adults act like teens are silly and foolish when in love.
- So, Jenny KNOWS her family will have trouble with Rob, yet she just brings him over one night and goes, here's Rob Montana. We're friends. Now, while Norma treats the young love with the respect it deserves, I think Jenny would be smart enough to tell her parents gradually about Rob- "I've met Nell Montana's son" would be a better start then just walking in with him. I can't even imagine how I'd react if I were Jenny's parents.
- There's a subplot where Rob's mom tries to kill herself after meeting Jenny's mom at the mall. Jenny's mom seems very confused by her emotions- she sort of wants to forgive Nell, but deep down, she just doesn't. That makes sense to me.
- They publish an account of Nell's "accidental overdose" in the newspaper. I doubt that would happen, even in the 80s. Rob even is quoted as saying his mom takes sleeping pills but probably just forgot she'd taken the medication and accidentally took it twice. No way the paper would interview the kid of a person who attempted suicide, right?
- Jenny's father is the one who really lays into her after she brings Rob home, and he thinks to himself "To tell the truth even when she [Jenny] was a little tyke, he'd been sort of uneasy around her. Cute little thing, but always looking at you, looking and watching, those dark eyes, and keeping her own thoughts." I think it's sort of sad he thinks this about Jenny, it's almost like he's wishing it were Jenny and not Gail.
- Rhoda is mentioned a lot in the beginning, and a lot after Jenny breaks up with Rob, but not much in between. On the other hand, it's stated that after Gail died and Jenny couldn't do much of anything, Rhoda would just walk for hours with her and talk her head off. I like that Rhoda was supportive when Gail died, but I don't like when girls drop their BFF when they find a boy, even if that is sort of true.
- While it's been two years since Gail died, you get little glimpses into how Jenny's life has changed- it's implied she used to run track, but couldn't bring herself to care anymore after Gail died. I think that's a pretty true description of grief.
- Jenny's mom watches the little sister, who's 5, walk to school through binoculars. That's nuts, what's the point of that? She's 5, if you're paranoid now (justifiably so), just walk her to school. What good does watching with binoculars as she gets run over do?
