The Geography of Girlhood

On her fourth birthday Penny received a globe from her mother: "If you ever need me . . . just remember I'll always be somewhere on here." Two weeks later her mother left, never to return. In a powerful verse novel, Penny charts the landscape of her high-school years--her older sister's wild ways, her best friend's descent into depression, her first boyfriend's accidental death, her crush on a teacher, her father's new marriage, her protective relationship of her younger stepbrother, and, always, her longing for her missing mother. Overcome by the pain in her life, Penny runs away with her sister's ex-boyfriend, but realizes it's a mistake and returns home to heal. The geography metaphor and wanderlust theme successfully connect the poems, some of which were published previously in literary journals, and the emotions of high-school and small-town life are beautifully expressed: "nothing ever happens / and if it does / all the things with wings / fly away."