Country Girl, City Girl by Lisa Jahn-Clough

'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title. –Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, ILĬopyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. A shy, unpolished girl in the throes of growing up having something to offer to a fashion maven will be a welcome idea to the many girls for whom glamour and popularity seem as distant as the moon. Thirteen-year-old Phoebe Sharp lives with her father and brother on their farm in Maine. One book I’d suggest to girls in their teens just realizing their sexuality would be Country Girl, City Girl by Lisa Jahn-Clough. The lesbian issue is unresolved and relatively low-key, allowing it to be as important or unimportant as readers make it. Because each age group varies, the subject of homosexuality is handled in different ways for the targeted audience. While the adolescent dialogue doesn't always ring true and the ending is a bit rushed, the confusion, self-doubt, and self-discovery that Phoebe experiences will be familiar to readers.

Her range of emotions and the degree to which they drive her behavior are the most successful elements of the book. When she sees that her friend has a crush on a boy, she is forced to come to terms with her own feelings. After Melita returns to New York, Phoebe visits her. Yeager, the 16-year-old girl at the center of Jahn-Cloughs (Country Girl, City Girl) latest novel, is certainly among them. Together, they feed one another's imaginations and plan a feminist fashion show. Glamorous Melita entrances shy, literary Phoebe, who likes being behind a camera. Melita, child of a single, psychologically troubled mother, and Phoebe, child of a widower, are both lonely, although they express it differently. During the summer before eighth grade, Melita, slightly older and worlds more sophisticated, comes to stay. Grade 7-9–Two girls thrown together by chance forge an exceptionally close friendship, and one has the courage to admit that for her it is more than platonic.