But, yall, this shit is HEAVY.
And it makes me glad to 1) have two sons and 2) not be a teenage girl anymore.
Girls on Fire is smart, fast-paced and raw. It tells the story of a small town in the early 1990's reeling from the suicide of a popular high school athlete. His death comes in the shadow of fears over devil worship and a general idea that the young people in the community need to be saved. What we find out, though, is that it's not some dark evil force that's preying on the souls of the teenagers. They're being taken over by the general act of being teenage girls.
Have you been a teenage girl? Man. It's HARD. Even under the best of circumstances, you're constantly trying to find your way and, often, blinded by the need to be heard and be included. You do some really stupid shit because of it (I mean, I didn't... but, I've heard of others who did... Crap, I hope no one I've known since high school is fact-checking me on this...)
Hannah is desperate for an identity. She finds it in Lacey, an outsider who leads Hannah down a path she never would have followed on her own. As the story unfolds, you find out more about Lacey and her relationship with the ubiquitous "mean girl" Nikki. Their stories slowly build to a climax which leads back to that young man's suicide in a way I was predicting, but not actually expecting.
It sounds like YA fodder, I realize. And, the author is a prolific YA author. But, the subject matter she wades into here is of the NSFW variety. It's raw and sexual and frightening. It'll have you locking up your daughters and your sons.
This book moved quickly and kept my interest. It brings back that desperate need to belong that so many of us felt. It's also set in the early 1990's and the references to the early days of MTV's The Real World gave me life. What's up, Andre?
Worth a read. Keep it away from your teenage girls. And, keep your teenage girls away from each other.
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