Box Girl [Hardcover]

Sarah Withrow (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Eighth-grader Gwen Bainbridge’s mother ran away five years ago. Now Gwen is receiving postcards from her that promise a reunion — postcards with a French postmark and no return address. Every night, Gwen pulls the cards from their secret place, makes a box out of them, and chants a spell that will take her to her mother. Until that happens, she plans to be a loner. After all, why make friends when she might be leaving any minute? Or so she thinks until she meets Clara, the new girl in her class. Clara sings to herself, moves her head like a chicken, and is determined to befriend Gwen. Despite herself, Gwen is drawn to this free spirit. But there’s a problem: How can Gwen invite Clara home for dinner with her dad and Leon, her dad’s boyfriend? This sensitive portrayal of a controversial subject from an award-winning writer shows the healing power of friendship. “Eloquent first-person narrative traces the gradual change Gwen undergoes as she learns to reach outward to find love and acceptance.” — Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gwen Bainbridge has a ritual. Each night she builds a box out of the postcards that she has received from her five-year-absent mother and wishes she were somewhere else in Europe with her mother or inside her house of cards instead of being stuck at home with her father. In this tender story about friendship and family, Withrow (Bat Summer) slowly unravels the secrets that have caused Gwen to retreat into a private world of postcards, dreams and denial. The author reveals her heroine's complex system of defenses while planting enough clues about Gwen's past to explain the cause of her pain. After her father's alternative lifestyle caused a rift between her and her ex-best friend, Gwen vows to remain a loner at the onset of eighth grade. However, a new girl named Clara is just as determined to be Gwen's best friend. Pushed and prodded by Clara, Gwen slowly reveals parts of herself that she meant to keep hidden and, when doing so, comes to realize she isn't the only one carrying disturbing secrets. Eloquent first-person narrative traces the gradual change Gwen undergoes as she learns to reach outward to find love and acceptance. Adolescents are sure to relate to the protagonist's self-consciousness about being different and the relief that comes when she finally finds a friend with whom she can be herself. Ages 10-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-8-Gwen is a normal, bright, and independent eighth grader laden down with an unusually self-absorbed family. When her mother, who left five years ago, begins to send her postcards from Europe, the girl begins to invent rituals to cast a spell over them to summon her mother home. Meanwhile, she must endure her school days. Her ex-best friend has moved away. Before she left, Gwen confided to her that life with her father includes Leon, his significant other. Her friend reacted with homophobic revulsion, and Gwen is determined to shield herself from future friendships. What she hasn't bargained on is a socially clueless and irritatingly persistent classmate dead set on becoming her new friend. The doggedly chipper Clara isn't at all fazed by Gwen's obvious cold shoulder. As the girls' relationship becomes a roller coaster of revealing moments, Gwen finds out that Clara has some complex issues of her own. At this point the girls are able to lay their secrets aside and begin a genuine friendship. Gwen and Clara are believable characters, and Gwen's first-person narrative gives the novel credible perspective. Readers meet a girl treading choppy adolescent waters, complicated further by the discomfort of her home life. The protagonists' emotional predicaments are refreshingly tempered with real-life adolescent moments concerning popularity, friends, class projects, and boys.

Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (November 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888994079
• ISBN-13: 978-0888994073
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,791,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Judge this Book by its Cover, September 18, 2007

By 

DogFish (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Box Girl (Paperback)

I had Box Girl from the library for two weeks before starting to read. The cover was a huge turnoff, feeling childish and unimaginative. When I at last started I couldn't put it down, finishing in two nights. Gwen and the kids in her life are interesting and complex. Every night she builds a box of postcards her 5 year absent mother has sent her, chanting a spell to get her to where her mother is. All the time pushing her father, his partner, and everyone else who tries to get close away, waiting for the day she gets the call. . . .