Something Girl

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

“Stupid, no good nothing girl” is the mantra 15-year-old Sophie
Hawthorne (aka Froggy) of Edmonton, Alberta, continually repeats to
herself. Consequently, being dumped by her boyfriend, doing poorly in
school, and being on probation for shoplifting, are, to her, all simply
bits of evidence confirming the correctness of her low self-assessment.

Part of Orca’s series of high-interest, low-difficulty readers for
high-school students, Something Girl deals candidly with the physical
and emotional abuse parents can inflict on their children. To outsiders,
Sophie’s real-estate-agent father is an upstanding member of the
community and a well-liked coach of the local boys’ hockey team.
Within his home, however, he is a control freak who batters both Sophie
and her mother, always being careful not to leave obvious evidence of
his physical cruelty. Desperate to “earn” her father’s love,
Sophie keeps the abuse a secret while making up excuses and telling lies
when questioned by a caring teacher, as well as by her best friend’s
mother and by Ms. Lee, her probation officer, who all suspect something
is wrong. Even a severe beating that leads to Sophie’s being
hospitalized cannot make her betray her father, and it is only the
verbal intervention of Sophie’s friend, Jujube, that finally brings
out the truth and ultimately leads to a positive, just resolution—one
that begins to restore Sophie’s self-esteem, causing her to recognize
that she really is a “something girl.” Goobie again demonstrates
that hi-lo books, while thin in length, do not have to be shallow in
content. Highly recommended.