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FindingJane
Jul 30, 2015FindingJane rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
In wry, bitter tones, a truly flawed and angry teenager scribbles down her wandering thoughts as she takes to the road. Mary Iris Malone is the quintessential furious adolescent—pissed off at her cheating father and her new stepmother and yearning for her absent mother, the writings in her book wander from sad bursts of self-pity to startling observations about the world around her. She’s chock full of problems, all right, not all of them physical, and puberty is just another ingredient in her mental stew. Whether she’s mentally sound is a source of debate, both for herself and the reader. The author has gifted her with a lively intelligence and a sparkling imagination, one that sees herself as the star of a particularly romantic YA movie, and this makes for absorbing reading. Reality is a bitter pill to swallow but Mim (as she prefers to be called) weathers it, if not with grace then with a certain amount of toughness. As always, a journey isn’t about the destination but about the people met along the way, bonds forged, adventures endured and the lessons learned. “Mosquitoland” is alternately spry, grim, acerbic, romantic and unexpectedly poignant.