“THE UNBEARABLE BOOK CLUB FOR UNSINKABLE GIRLS,” by Julie Schumacher, Delacourt Press, Hardcover, May 8, 2012, $16.99 (ages 12 and up)
“The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls” captures quick thoughts of a teenager — curious, confused and well-read — into a novel.
Schumacher writes a well-written story of teenage-related unanswered questions, spur of the moment thought and random acts of the age. The novel is an essay written by a young, shy, girl named Adrienne, who feels a bit indescribable and “normal.” Due to an injury, her planned summer has completely changed to include a mother-daughter book club with three classmates preparing for AP English. The three classmates could not be more different than one another, yet a friendship is formed — mostly due to a quirky, curious, attention-neglected girl who comes from a wealthy family.
Written to create images and hold you in firm resolve with Adrienne, you are wrapped into the world of teenage life, where thoughts jump quickly from one topic to another and you are trained to jump to conclusions of your own creation.
Adrienne is an avid reader due to help from her first-grade teacher who “knelt by my desk one afternoon and smoothed her finger across the parallel rows of two-dimensional black marks in my book — as if she had opened a hidden door, I felt the patterned surface break and give way, and the words let me in.”
The mother-daughter Book club forms several nicknames throughout the story, including “Extremely Unbearable Book Club,” “Literary Trespassers Association for Delinquent Girls” and “The Society of Feminine and Literary Despair.” Reading and discussing “The House on Mango Street,” “The Left Hand of Darkness,” “Frankenstein” and “The Awakening,” the book club forms into a friendship guild.
I was curious at first sight of the book, as the cover art is intriguing — along with the long title. Overall I enjoyed reading it, but didn’t feel hooked until the middle. It’s a well-written description of how I felt as a teenager — confused, curious, interested in other “cliques” but too afraid to try and befriend others. Complete at the end of the summer, book club over and new friendships formed, the book leaves you wanting to know more of the school year and how, or if, the book club changed the girls’ year together in school.
