The Power of Thirteen

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.

Packed with potential, McKay’s first novel, an
ugly-duckling-becomes-a-beautiful-swan-who-goes-bad story, is fatally
flawed by a combination of underdeveloped characters, inconsistent
characterization, and action that lacks clear motivation. At 12, chubby
social outcast Sarah had been “Daddy’s Little Girl,” but, just
prior to turning 13, Sarah, with her mother’s assistance, had
transformed herself. However, on Sarah’s 13th birthday, her father
rejects her more “adult/sexual” look and, the reader is supposed to
believe, Sarah herself.

The plot jumps ahead two years and follows Sarah from ages 15 to 17 as
her life seemingly deteriorates. At the outset of this period, Sarah
catches Duncan, her abusive high-school dropout boyfriend, cheating on
her. She nevertheless gives him her virginity, only to be physically
abused again. Sarah drops Duncan, abandons her home, and moves into the
apartment of Wes, a drug dealer, and his girlfriend, Stacey, where she
commences to abuse drugs and alcohol. On her 16th birthday, Sarah,
without explanation, begins a sustained period of rampant
alcohol/drug-induced promiscuity before being “rescued” by good guy
and schoolmate Mikey who, overlooking her sexual past, moves her into
the house of his unquestioning parents and his bedroom. When Stacey,
with whom Sarah has had a sexual encounter, commits suicide, Sarah feels
enormous guilt; she abandons Mikey and ostensibly sets out on “a
journey of self-discovery.”

Structurally, The Power of Thirteen is a “sandwich,” the
“bread” being a prologue and an epilogue. In the former, 24-year-old
Sarah, bruised from yet another abusive relationship, has returned to
her home town of Brockville, Ontario, from Vancouver, B.C., after her
seven-year journey of self-discovery. Sarah’s first stop is at the
grave of a 19-year-old whom she addresses as “My friend, my lover.”
The novel’s “meat” leads to the identity of the grave’s occupant
and the meaning of Sarah’s statement. In the epilogue, the adult Sarah
attempts a reconciliation with her parents, especially her father, who
rejects her (Sarah’s mother explains, “when you became a woman he
didn’t know what to do with you”). While some fathers may truly have
difficulty accepting their adolescent daughters’ emerging sexuality,
the two-dimensional father that McKay creates for Sarah is simply not
believable.

The book’s short length and adolescent characters suggest a
young-adult novel, but the language and thematic content indicate an
adult audience. Not recommended.