Review: In Zanesville, by Jo Ann Beard

This is a beautifully written, nostalgic book. I can't think of another novel that brought me so totally back to my young teenage years. Beard is about 10 years older than I and her novel takes place in the midwest while I grew up on the east coast, but in testament to small town life, it makes no difference. Other than a different soundtrack to the narrative, her characters' struggles and torments were the same as mine -- bad babysitting gigs, the torture of sanitary napkins with belts, an alcoholic father, a mother in despair, the capriciousness of teenage girls, and of course, what to do with boys. But In Zanesville is not a depressing book at all; I found it sweet and kind of innocent. Totally appropriate for 12 year olds and up, although it is classified adult fiction.

Rating: four celery sticks