The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Judy Doenges's brilliant first novel is the deeply affecting story of Robin Simonsen, a girl growing up in the 1960s and 70s on the wrong side of a Chicago suburb. After the death of her young mother, Robin is left with her kind but irresponsible father-a junkman turned drug dealer-and her grandmother, a retired Vegas showgirl, both of whom draw local fixers and ex-cons into the Simonsens' increasingly shady home. Bright, wise, and observant, Robin is the quiet outsider to her hedonistic family, struggling to come to terms with her ardent love for girls. Trapped in a house scarily alive with a rogues gallery of hapless and often hilarious crooks, misfits, and hangers-on, Robin must look elsewhere for stability, befriending the son of the neighborhood's only African American family-a boy whose unimpeachable manners and flawless grades mask his own sexuality-while falling in love with the high school beauty. Wry, edgy, and smart, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World offers a new kind of young heroine, one who stands fearlessly at the precipice of her family and her town's self-destruction, defiantly fighting to save herself.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0472115618
ISBN13:9780472115617
Release Date:April 2006
Publisher:University of Michigan Regional
Length:211 Pages
Weight:0.75 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 6.7" x 9.2"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Quite a jewel
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
I really enjoyed reading Ms.Doenges' book. I thought it a gritty, gutsy,honest and strong novel, but there was a gentleness, too, a patience that wrapped itself around me as I read it. A feeling behind it that said "All things will unfold in time." Robin,unlike so many teenagers,works her way patiently to satisfy her desires and thus remains true to herself always;and strong, perhaps the most stable character in the book. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World sparkles with wit, each character a precious jewel.
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