Party Girl
Lynne Ewing
Summary:
This novel is about a fourteen- year -old girl named Cada, who is Mexican- American and lives in the slums of Los Angeles. Her single mother is constantly having intercourse around her, bringing back strange men to the house, and drinking excessively. Her boyfriend, Konchito, is the head honcho of his gang and pressures her to smoke weed and drink alcohol. Her friends are so caught up in the gang scene, that she realizes that none of them have her back. She was involved in the party scene, and even more severe, the gang scene. In the first ten pages of the book, her very best friend, Ana, admits to being pregnant (girls who were in gangs wanted to get pregnant so they would receive welfare and get out of the gang life), but she did not want the baby because her family was very traditional and was unaware of her gang activities. Right after the two best friends are discussing the pregnancy, a car drives by and shoots Ana. Ana dies in Cada’s arms, and she knows it is gang related. Their fellow gang members who they thought were friends acted as if they did not care that she was dead- she was just another one the ones dead. The entire novel shows how Cada copes, and how she desperately wants to escape this harsh, dangerous scene she has been so used to. There are major themes in the novel such as alcohol and drug abuse, teen pregnancy, gang activity, sexual abuse, and poverty.
Teachability:
This novel was extremely hard to read, and I do not think it is an adolescent novel. Sure, the characters in the book are fourteen years old, but they are behaving in a way far different than the average teenager. I think it is critical for students to see extreme measures, such as this book, but some of the scenes were just way to vivid, graphic, and mature for a middle school student. I think this book would be a great read for perhaps a sophomore or a junior. I think it also a gender neutral book even though it is told in the perspective of a girl. It was well-written; as a reader, you really get a sense of her emotions and not just the actual events taking place. I think it is an extremely eventful book that makes you want to keep reading, because it includes things such as shootings, fights, and party scenes. I read it very quickly because it was only 110 pages, but I definitely enjoyed it. I just feel it is a more independent reading book, rather than one read in class, because some might find it offensive.
