With all of the traveling I do with my full-time job, I spend a lot of time listening to audiobooks instead of reading physical books...though I should really bring one with me, it would prevent the boredom I had last night in my hotel room! Today's listen during my 6 hours of driving was Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick, the author of Silver Linings Playbook.
For a book about a teenage girl that doesn't pull any punches about the reality of female life, I enjoyed this more than I expected to! I wish I had found this book about 20 years ago when I really needed to hear that it was okay to be weird and different, even when others want you to conform. Nanette is a fantastic multi-faceted character whose journey echoes so many other people's journey, especially people like me. There is a huge minority of people (possibly even a majority) for whom high school is a living hell. While there were certainly good points for me, high school was far from fun for a weird fat guy.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the plot, because you can find that anywhere, but I do want you to seek this book out, especially if you have a teenager in your life. There are so many expectations on teenagers, and this book explores how those expectations can force them into ways of conforming that we don't even realize. Filled with beautiful characters and a story that speaks to our need to truly be heard, this is well worth the read!