Just a Girl in the Whirl

Review/SnyopsisWhen everything seems to be falling apart, holding it together is one of the hardest things to do. Lauren Brighton is counting down the days until her eighteenth birthday. For the last two years, she has been thrust into the role of primary caregiver to her two younger sisters and her mother after the sudden departure of her father. Addressing everyone else’s needs before her own, the real Lauren is relegated to dreams and middle-of- the-night writing sessions in the privacy of her bathtub. When her father makes an unexpected return into their lives, Lauren’s carefully kept façade begins to unravel, and she must reestablish her precarious balance in order to keep herself afloat.This beautifully crafted story incorporates a variety of different storytelling methods, each of which adds an important dimension to the book. Lauren is a passionate writer, often frantically jotting poems composed in her dreams into her treasured notebook. These poems sometimes resemble those by E.E. Cummings, and other times are in more of a free-verse style, capturing the turbulent emotions Lauren feels throughout the story. Anger, frustration, fear, and uncertainty all stay carefully hidden behind Lauren’s emotional walls, only released when she allows them to appear on paper.Lauren’s mind is the narrator of this story, often making funny and poignant remarks only she and the reader can experience. Her sisters Matty and Sara add more humor to the narrative with their blunt comments that older children might think twice before uttering. Navigating the uncertainties of adolescence is hard enough without having to serve as the parental figure to three other people, but Lauren does so with grace. Her development throughout the story is in direct juxtaposition to her sister Matty, and the two together form a satisfying connection that transcends sisterhood.The incorporation of mental illness, addiction, and a transgendered character add dimension to this coming-of-age story without being overwhelming. This is a heartwarming and compassionate tale about a teenager who has set aside her entire life to preserve her dysfunctional family. It is a glorious and memorable novel for young adults who are looking for the permission to live their own lives on their own terms. -Mary Lanni from Reedsy