The copy I had
Beverly Cleary is more known for her juveniles on the adventures of Henry, Beezus, and Ramona the Great, but she did take a sweet dive into YA romance with her novel Fifteen.
I think I related to the book because I identified with 15-year-old Jane's insecurities and innocence. There have been countless stories relayed in this blog of my social ineptness during those teenage years.
While some of the references in the book are dated, such as receiving an ID bracelet to signal going steady, there are some universal moments anyone in 2026 can relate to:
- Stan, the sixteen-year-old object of affection, has a delivery job after school for a pet store. Think Amazon meets Pets Supply Plus. He is sweet, awkward, and his ears turn pink when he is embarrassed.
- Jane's dad amps up on the dad jokes when Stan is around.
- Frenemy Marcy Stokes flaunts her designer clothes and goes out of her way to belittle Jane in front of others.
- Jane, on a double date for Chinese food, quietly slips the fortune from her cookie into her purse, hopeful from the message and already saving tokens from the relationship. How many objects did I collect over the years: dried flowers, jewelry, keychains, heart-shaped Valentine candy boxes, miniature golf scorecards, ticket stubs, and love notes dashed on scraps of paper and slid under windshield wipers? It's universal and cuts across generations. Even now, there's a bracelet not worn but not quite abandoned on my son's bathroom counter from a former girlfriend.
Cleary was a well-loved children's author, who sold nearly 100 million books and lived to the grand age of 104.
No comments:
Post a Comment