Vicki Grant

And, happily, it sounds like the rest of the book wasn’t so bad either. Here’s an excerpt from an Atlantic Books Today review of Betsy Wickwire’s Dirty Secret.

“This book magnificently conveys the drama and emotional intensity that so often typify the teen experience… Without ever once belittling Betsy’s reactions, Grant leads her on a journey of healing and self-discovery, and she gives readers the opportunity to watch her come to her own realizations about life, love and friendship. The author not only provides a very authentic depiction of her characters and of teens in general, but she also recognizes and celebrates their capacity to grow and be transformed by their experiences. And she manages to convey these truths in her own unique fashion: with a sly humour always lurking just beneath the surface. While it was somewhat surprising that there was never any eventual confrontation between Betsy and Nick and Carly, the ending is absolutely perfect, highlighting the dichotomy between Betsy’s initial feelings of despair and her new awareness of herself and the world. This book is a sensitive exploration of one teen’s maturation but first and foremost, it is a highly entertaining read that should speak to a wide range of readers.

I just read an interview with poet Nick Thran - whose work I’m looking forward to reading, not the least because he introduced me to this dead-on definition of ‘cool’. Here’s what Nick said:

“Every time the word cool pops up I think of this stanza from Berman’s ‘Self Portrait at 28′,

If you were cool in high school
you didn’t ask too many questions.
You could tell who’d been to last night’s
big metal concert by the new t-shirts in the hallways.
You didn’t have to ask
and that’s what cool was:
the ability to deduce,
to know without asking.
And the pressure to simulate coolness
means not asking when you don’t know,
which is why kids grow ever more stupid.”