My Not-So-Still Life (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: My Not-So-Still Life Karen Coats Gallagher, Liz . My Not-So-Still Life. Lamb, 2011. 180p. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-94330-0 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-84154-5 $15.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-89974-4 $15.99 Ad Gr. 6-9. Vanessa is stereotypically nonstereotypical—as a sophomore with some artistic talent, she has adopted the full freak persona: brightly dyed hair, outlandish makeup, funky clothes, artsy BFFs, and outsider attitude. High school is beyond boring for her, and she can't wait to get out into the art world where she feels she belongs. In her attempt to realize her goals, she gets a job at a local art store, pushes her friends [End Page 518] to take risks they don't want to take, and pursues her attraction to one of the store's patrons, James. The real adults in her life, as well as her two best friends, Nick and Holly, see past her brash persona and encourage her to embrace being sixteen instead of trying to fast-track her life. A close sexual call with James and a failed attempt at public art wake her up to what they have been trying to tell her, and she decides that taking things more slowly might not be all that bad. While Vanessa may have some artistic talent, words are not her forte; her first-person narration is almost painfully clunky, consisting of simple declarative sentences that rarely vary in structure. However, this simplistic, nondimensional style may in fact appeal to readers less skilled in decoding more complex sentences, and her voice certainly conveys the restlessness that many teens find suffocating. Throughout, she questions in a straightforward way what art is and what it means to her. Her experiments in expression are not at all nuanced or subtle, and the didacticism and happy ending stop far short of being edgy, making this a good choice for younger adolescents casting about for a weirder life. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois