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Story of a Girl

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 8,176 ratings · 1,106 reviews

When she is caught in the backseat of a car with her older brother's best friend--Deanna Lambert's teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of "school slut," she longs to escape a life defined by her past. With subtle grace, complicated wisdom and striking emotion, Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capaci...more

Hardcover, 192 pages

Published January 10th 2007 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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Jun 12, 2012 Tatiana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Tatiana by: Ariel, Annalisa

Shelves: ala-ya-2008, national-book-award, 2010, ya, 2012, favorites

Update 6/12/12 I think it's even better upon reread. Adding a star

Some books are written about lovable characters who you admire and cheer for. Some are written about flawed characters like Deanna, and the author's purpose in such cases is to make us, readers, not to love, but maybe understand them.

I realize why Story of a Girl received such mixed reviews. Not every reader cares to get to know someone like Deanna. She is a loser, she is a bad friend, she is a slut, right? It is so much easier t...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Reynje rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-that-linger, read-2012, ya-lit, young-adult, favourites, contemp-or-realistic, writing-envy

4.5 stars

I know full well how dramatic this is going to sound, but this book broke my heart. Not violently, or loudly, with a single devastating blow; but quietly and slowly, taking it apart piece by painful piece. Whatever emotional sandbagging I’d done in the intervening years proved a poor defence, and in just 192 pages Sara Zarr’s excruciating story had brought me right back to being sixteen again, vulnerable and raw with self-loathing.

What strikes me most Sara Zarr’s writing, and Story of...more 4.5 stars

I know full well how dramatic this is going to sound, but this book broke my heart. Not violently, or loudly, with a single devastating blow; but quietly and slowly, taking it apart piece by painful piece. Whatever emotional sandbagging I’d done in the intervening years proved a poor defence, and in just 192 pages Sara Zarr’s excruciating story had brought me right back to being sixteen again, vulnerable and raw with self-loathing.

What strikes me most Sara Zarr’s writing, and Story of a Girl in particular, is its empathy. In telling the story of Deanna Lambert, struggling against the perceptions and repercussions of her past actions, Zarr cuts right to the emotional truth of the situation. Doing away with superfluous drama and paring the story back to the bare bones, Zarr writes from Deanna’s perspective with palpable understanding. I feel like she gets it. And that kind of validation is a powerful and moving thing, particularly for readers who find echoes of their own personal experiences in Deanna’s.

Knowing that this was Zarr’s debut novel, I think I had unconsciously tempered my expectations, particularly after recently reading and loving How To Save a Life. It was somewhat humbling, therefore, to realise that this slighter, quieter book, was equally powerful. There are no wasted words. Every scene is layered with significance, down to the small details that (albeit sparsely) flesh them out. The gestures, dialogue, setting, the spare descriptions are imbued with relevance to the overarching themes and characterisation. In few words Zarr paints a sharp and insightful picture of one teenage girl’s experience with shame, judgement and forgiveness.

Perception, and its accompanying shades and variances, are subtly examined in Story of Girl. From the wide-spread labelling of Deanna as the “school slut” and the ways in which stories are manipulated, through to Deanna’s perception of herself as unloved by her father, the various lenses Deanna is shown through are tackled without any heavy-handed declarations from Zarr on the rights or wrongs thereof. Nor are the characters cast in clear-cut roles as antagonists and protagonists. It simply is what it is. And I think readers would hard-pressed to say they didn’t know someone, if not themselves, who had been subjected to the perpetuation of a stereotype or label, or on the flipside even participated in doing so. Zarr’s story is a deft and effective deconstruction of the some of the myths surrounding the “slut” tag, and for all its economy with words it packs some intense and thought-provoking subtext.

I can understand why some have found Story of a Girl’s ending to feel less than adequately positive. However, coming from a somewhat non-“huggy” family myself, it felt honest to me. Sometimes, it’s as likely for someone to say: “I was wrong and I’m sorry” as it is for them to light themselves on fire. Sometimes shifts in perception, or forgiveness, are not accompanied by declarations or grand gestures. Often they come on gradually, unheralded. And sometimes, when one has forgiven themselves, the same acknowledgement from others is no longer all that necessary anyway. Redemption can be a self-fulfilling thing. To this end, I think Zarr’s conclusion to this book struck the right chord, with small glimpses of hope and change, while remaining in keeping with the gentle character growth throughout.

It would be dishonest of me to say that reading Story of A Girl didn’t leave me feeling scraped and bruised and bring me precariously close to an ugly cry in public. For a short book it certainly hit a nerve – it’s not often that I read something that takes me from anger and indignation to intense sadness and beyond. But in the end I didn’t feel like I’d lost anything for reading it. On the contrary, I felt like I’d been given something important and special. Certainly another viewpoint from which to consider things, but more than that, a sense that experiences like Deanna’s have not gone unwitnessed.

That they are understood.
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Mar 30, 2012 Emily May rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Emily by: Catie

Shelves: ya-na, 2011, contemporary

3.5 stars.

I've taken quite a few lessons from this book and a couple of fellow GR members; basically, I didn't know how strong puritanical attitudes still are in the United States... or, at least, I didn't realise they are quite so widespread even today. I associated them with small communities that share a very conservative/religious attitude and never imagined these attitudes towards sex to be typical of just your average American town. Well, we learn something new everyday...

That aside, I fo...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Lisa O. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit

Abandon all hope -Ye who enter here.

This is what I wanted to inscribe on a plate and stick on the front page of the book as I was reading the first half.
Have you read my profile description? Well, I state that I read only what relaxes me. This book is NOT relaxing. It's depressing. At least for the first part. So if you are all about flowers and puppies, happy thoughts and happily ever afters, I warn you that this book will not make you feel better.

Deanna is 16 lives in the blue-collar town of...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Isamlq rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-favorites

what would have been a thirty minute coffee break this morning morphed into two hours of me ordering one round after another, all because i didn't want this to end. i might have gotten couple side glances too, with maybe imaginary word bubbles of 'what's bugging you and why the clenched jaw?' directed my way.

and how could i not clench my jaws?how could i not breathe deep? really, how could i not when this story of this girl had both angry me and sad me riled up! the only time i wanted to make a...more

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Jan 13, 2011 Cory rated it 4 of 5 stars

My feelings on this book are mixed. On the one hand, I really enjoyed it. It's probably up there with John Green. It tackles some difficult issues and it does it without seeming melodramatic. But on the other hand, a few characters are underdeveloped and I could do without the poems/vignettes Deanna wrote at the beginning of some of the chapters.

Story of a Girl follows sixteen-year-old Deanna who has a reputation for being the town slut. However, Deanna has only been with one guy, Tommy, her br...more My feelings on this book are mixed. On the one hand, I really enjoyed it. It's probably up there with John Green. It tackles some difficult issues and it does it without seeming melodramatic. But on the other hand, a few characters are underdeveloped and I could do without the poems/vignettes Deanna wrote at the beginning of some of the chapters.

Story of a Girl follows sixteen-year-old Deanna who has a reputation for being the town slut. However, Deanna has only been with one guy, Tommy, her brother's drug buddy who happened to be seventeen when she was thirteen. Tommy spread his side of the story so now the whole town knows. And her father caught her in the act. What could be worse you ask? Oh, her brother had a kid with his girlfriend, and her only two best friends, Jason and Lee, are dating. Life definitely sucks for Deanna.

To make things worse, she gets a job at a pizza place that Tommy works at. Her Dad still hates her. And things are awkward with her friends because she has a psuedo-crush on Jason.

Yes, sucks to be her. But she doesn't do all the self-pitying that I hate in YA. She gets over it and manages to get over her problems. Sure she cries a lot, but people do that. She gets herself together and talks about her issues. God, I hate when people don't communicate. This book pretty much handles all those awkward things instead of running away from them. And it doesn't do them in a disgusting way. Most of the plot lines were interesting. I was worried about her boss, Michael, turning into a gay stereotype. But he narrowly managed to avoid it.

Now her friends were a bit underdeveloped. I would have liked to see more of them. The fact that they play a pretty big part of the story, but are only two dimensional kind of annoyed me. I would have liked the father to come around a bit sooner. I did like how the teen pregnancy was handled, and how she settled things with Tommy. You can't hold a 13 year-old responsible for that sort of stuff. Especially when the guy is 4 years older than her. Sex was handled pretty maturely in this. None of it was gratuitous. There wasn't that much cussing either. Nor was their any alcohol, but they were smoking pot. I'd suspend my belief on this, but they were in some backwater town north of California. I don't know why it felt like they were in the suburbs of Seattle. I guess because this reminded me of Twilight in a way. Only a million times better. Deanna is like everything Bella isn't.

I'd say 3.75 stars on this. It was better than a Elizabeth Scott book. It was better than The DUFF. I'd even say it was better than half of the books Sarah Dessen has written. The writing was a bit weak at times, but over all it was pretty good. It stayed on melodramatic at times, but quickly pulled back. I'd check out another Sara Zarr book anytime. (less)

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Dec 14, 2007 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit

Some of the book reminded me of living in a small town where you can’t avoid people you dated years ago, have co-workers who are not your friends, think people were friends when they were drug buddies, where there aren’t many options for employment, and everyone is kinda hanging around after school (although in my situation it was college and not high school that brought this stagnation). There is honesty that combats rumors, there are shunnings that hurt years later and there are questions abou...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Lyn (The Heartless) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, kindle, trauma, teen-lit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I am hesitant to flat out dislike a book, but "Story of a Girl" left me little choice. The main character, Deanna, blamed everyone else in her life for her misery, yet she never hesitates to stir up drama. She rejects her best friend because of a guy, she slept with an older guy because her recently laid off father didn't care about her, and she forces her male best friend into admitting his feelings, and flat out corners him and forces herself upon him. Mind you, this is a girl who is disgusted...more

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Dec 29, 2007 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Teen girls

Like her older brother Darren, Deanna is a big disappointment to her father. When in 8th grade Deanna's father caught her with a high school boy in his car. Nothing has been right since. She dreams of moving out with Darren, his girlfriend and their baby and she hopes to help pay for a move with the earnings from her summer job in a pizzeria. She never thought she'd run into Tommy again, but he to works at the pizzeria and is bent on harassing her. Deanna has a lot of issues to work out and she'...more

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Dec 12, 2008 Paige Finley added it

A Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

I read the book A Story of the Girl by Sara Zarr. This book is crazy. It’s about a girl name Deanna who is claimed to be the biggest skank at her school because her brothers “supposedly’’ Best friend took advantage of her, but as a 13 year old girl she never told Tommy to stop because she said “he made her feel good”. And it “made her feel like she mattered to him”. But that night when her dad found her and Tommy in his truck nothing was the same. Tommy went to scho...more A Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

I read the book A Story of the Girl by Sara Zarr. This book is crazy. It’s about a girl name Deanna who is claimed to be the biggest skank at her school because her brothers “supposedly’’ Best friend took advantage of her, but as a 13 year old girl she never told Tommy to stop because she said “he made her feel good”. And it “made her feel like she mattered to him”. But that night when her dad found her and Tommy in his truck nothing was the same. Tommy went to school telling everybody what had happened but it was the wrong story.

I liked this story because I could relate to it. Not because I done what Deanna did, but because her school is like mines a bunch of DRAMA. Most high schools have lots of drama at their school. Throughout this story it seems like the drama just gets worse. And Deanna can’t do anything about it because she made the bad mistake.

3 years later after Deanna’s stupid mistake she still has the name of the biggest skank of her school. Even though most people hate her she does still have 2 really good friends. Lee and Jason, they are a couple and they are her best friends. The worse summer of her life was her freshman year, which she hasn’t forgot and neither has her dad. When her dad found his 13 year old with an 18 year old he flips out on her. (What parent wouldn’t). And he hasn’t spoke to her since that day when he snatches her out Tommy’s truck.

Deanna’s brother Darren has his own problems. He got his own problems. He got this girl named Stacy pregnant which is now lives in his parent’s basement with their baby and her. Deanna’s parents think that she is going to make the same mistake that Darren did when he was in high school. Deanna has always had the dream that she would get a job and her Darrin, Stacey, and the baby will move in their own apartment. Because Darrin and Deanna’s dad wants Darrin, Stacey, and the baby to move out and Deanna want to move too.

With Deanna’s ideal she went to get a job but guess who works there?? Tommy. She has the best boss ever who doesn’t care about anything. She feels like he is the only one that cares and understands her one day Stacey forgot to pick Deanna up from work so she gets away to work thinking that Stacey was there because her car was in the parking lot but she wasn’t. So she started to walk home and there comes Tommy telling her to get in the car and he will take her home. She knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. If you want to know the rest you must read the story!!!!!!!!!!!

Page Number: 224

Genre: Fiction

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Aug 17, 2012 Keertana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-that-linger

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Sara Zarr is a name that crosses every well-read reader’s lips at some point – every well-read reader, that is, except me. Thus, when I saw Zarr’s Story of a Girl sitting quite alone on the shelves of my library, I just knew I had to pick it up; I certainly haven’t regretted my choice. While this was one of the quickest novels I’ve read lately, it packed a whole lot of punch, heart-wrenching scenes, and true character connection in such a short amount of pages. It was provoca...more

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Mel (who is deeply in love with Hal) Your reviews are always so beautifully written, Keertana. Too bad I forget to "like" them most times. But I remembered this time!

Definitely interested...more
Aug 17, 2012 04:36pm

Erin I've only read 2 Zarr books-- Sweethearts and Once Was Lost. I enjoyed the second one much, much more, personally.

Great review, as always.
Aug 17, 2012 05:06pm

Keertana @Mel: Aww, thank you! It really means a lot coming from you, Mel!(: I'm also really interested in this author, so I definitely plan on checking out mo...more
Aug 17, 2012 06:21pm

Jun 14, 2012 Dominique rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Dominique by: positive reviews

Shelves: did-not-finish

Teen sex and bullying happens a lot.
Years ago, when I saw this book in the school library and read a bit of the description, I was pretty annoyed with the subject. Years later, now that I was more aware of how teen sex and taunting can affect people, I decided to give it a chance. Unfortunatley, it wasn't what I expected.

A 13-year-old and a 17-year-old? Are you kidding me? Stoned? Not even having any affections with each other, whatsoever?! Most teen sex stories I've read from actual teenagers h...more Teen sex and bullying happens a lot.
Years ago, when I saw this book in the school library and read a bit of the description, I was pretty annoyed with the subject. Years later, now that I was more aware of how teen sex and taunting can affect people, I decided to give it a chance. Unfortunatley, it wasn't what I expected.

A 13-year-old and a 17-year-old? Are you kidding me? Stoned? Not even having any affections with each other, whatsoever?! Most teen sex stories I've read from actual teenagers have said that they'd done it with their boyfriends or at least boys they liked, so, this is shockingly unbelieveable. (Not to mention how the main character seems to ramble on in the first page: "The car was cold and Tommy was stoned and we'd been there doing pretty much the same thing a dozen times before, and I could smell the salt air from the beach, and in my head I wrote the story of a girl who surfed the cold green ocean, when one day she started paddling the wrong direction and didn't know it until she looked back and couldn't see the shore." -- Jeez, Zarr, that was a whole paragraph! Don't you know how to use breaks?!)
It skips forward to three years, and this is where the actual story takes place. Deanna is still constantly teased for doing it with a teenager, as this was spread around by Tommy himself. And, wouldn't you know it, it still goes around the campus - three differant made-up versions of what happened, too - even long after he's graduated! What's funny is that, while people are still labelling her as the "class slut," fans of "Gossip Girl" argue that character (view spoiler) while main character, Blaire, has sex with differant men each week. Her only two friends are a girl who comes from a crappy household like her and a guy who she undoubtedly likes.
No, I wasn't expecting Deanna's house to be an unrepaired mess. Since the father is still not talking to her, I asked, 'Really? You expect me to believe that after 3 years, her and her father have never had a heart-to-heart talk about this?' And I guess the mother hasn't either, no matter how optimistic she can be.
What I also find unbelieveable is the fact that her own brother has done it with his girlfriend, and concieved a baby. It's because, according to Deanna, when he learned about his best friend having sex with his little sister, he got angry and "kicked his ass." To me, that says that he's a smart dude who knows that having sex at a young age is a bad idea. Nope!
Yeah, I didn't like the idea about there being a subplot of her brother, his girlfriend, and baby living in the house basement, because I thought this story was supposed to revolve all around Deanna. Then there's her whiny-ish descriptions of places, like, "We went in and got hit with that wave of bakery warmth and sugar and vanilla that's so incredibly good for about twenty seconds, after which point it starts to make you sick."
So, to me, this was unrealistic, stereotypical, and slow. I stopped at page 29, and decided it was for the best, after reading what happens later on, according to the reviews.

There's so many ways this could've been better, and you'd know what, if you read everything above.
And if the title was "Story of a Girl," you'd think it be told in third-person, right...? Instead, go listen to the song, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days, which sounds more sweet and uplifting. This just makes you feel annoyed, depressed, and disgusted.(less)

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Dec 19, 2012 Scarlet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lyrical-writing, made-up-stories-on-real-issues

3.5

"This is the last time, the girl thought, that she would remember these things.
If they floated back to her again, she would paddle away.
When the remembering was done, the forgetting could begin."

Story of a Girl is, simply put, the story of a girl, who is flawed, misunderstood and taken for granted, thanks to a promiscuous reputation which she herself helped create. There aren’t many things about Deanna Lambert that are likeable, but that’s okay, because you still understand her.

I’ll be honest...more

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Nov 23, 2008 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-want, favorites, chick-lit, ya-or-juvenile

Sara Zarr hit the nail on the head with her novel, Story of a Girl. In fact, I finally grabbed a pen and wrote down citations of things that kept striking a chord with me, totalling 29 paragraphs, bits of insights and places where she conveyed most perfectly the character and what it's like to be in that situation.

Ms. Zarr deftly created the environment that would absolutely contribute to each of Deanna's struggles: small town gossips, depressed and absentee parents, teenage impulsiveness, recre...more

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Aug 06, 2008 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teen girls

Shelves: fiction, young-adult

I liked Story of a Girl because it's very honest and realistic. The narrator, Deanna, is a 16-year-old girl who's still recovering from an awkward and embarrassing sexual experience she had three years ago. When she was in eighth grade, her dad busted her and her 17-year-old pseudo-boyfriend having sex and since then she's been the talk of the town. Everyone thinks she's a slut and this reputation -- part real, part self-perception -- is something she can't seem to escape. She has a dysfunctiona...more

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May 12, 2008 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

Have you ever done something that you wish you could take back? Something that changed your life forever?

We've all been there. We've all done something that we regret. Just like all of us, Deanna was once caught doing something that she wasn't proud of. Unfortunately for her, it almost ruined her teen years. Just one dumb relationship, sprinkled with naiveté and trust, and suddenly Deanna finds herself with the vulgar label of the school slut. It was...more Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

Have you ever done something that you wish you could take back? Something that changed your life forever?

We've all been there. We've all done something that we regret. Just like all of us, Deanna was once caught doing something that she wasn't proud of. Unfortunately for her, it almost ruined her teen years. Just one dumb relationship, sprinkled with naiveté and trust, and suddenly Deanna finds herself with the vulgar label of the school slut. It wasn't what she'd asked for; she'd only ever been with one guy. But the stories just won't stop. Like a horrible rerun of a hated sitcom, it seems like everywhere she turns, Deanna is confronted with what she did one night in a boy's car--and the fact that her father caught her doing it.

Deanna's story is touching, and the worst example of how one event can seem to define a person's life. But like the fighter she is, Deanna tries to move on and just live her life as normally as possible, with her two best friends and her family. But her family life isn't exactly picturesque. Her older brother, his wife Stacy, and their baby daughter are living in the basement. Her father is always arguing with Stacy, and Deanna thinks that he hates Stacy almost as much as he hates her since that fateful night when Deanna's life fell apart. Her mother loves her and tries so hard to give Deanna the care that she needs, but somehow it doesn't quite make up for the fact that their family is just barely scraping by. On top of all that, Deanna doesn't know if she'll ever make it out of Pacifica, a little dump of a town in the otherwise glamorous state of California.

After sophomore year is over, Deanna is stuck at home all summer. To get out of the house and keep her busy, she gets her first job at a little local pizza parlor. There, she discovers that the same boy who came so close ruining her life three years earlier is now her co-worker. While she struggles to understand her feelings towards him, she is also struggling at home to live with the strange family arrangement and someday find a way out.

Over the course of the summer, Deanna learns a lot about herself, her friends, and her family. By the time she returns to high school as a junior, she has a much better understanding of who she is, and that nobody else can define her. Sara Zarr did a wonderful job of creating Deanna, such a vulnerable character whose thoughts and actions are so believable. Never again will I judge somebody from a story I once heard about them, after seeing Deanna's account of just how much that can hurt. (less)

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Mar 31, 2008 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teens

Story of a Girl, by Sara Zarr was an okay book, not great but not horrible. It was a pretty easy read and had a nice plot but it wasn't a book that i would recommend a lot because i didn't have a "wow" reaction to this book. The basic plot of this book is that the book focused around a girl named Deanna Lambert, a young teenager who gained a poor reputation in school from a guy and how she tries to fight against it and create a better life for herself. Also, an important part of this book was ho...more

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Jul 01, 2008 Marisa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: problem novel girls

Recommended to Marisa by: Carol and others

Shelves: ya, problem-novels-ish

So, I usually don't read books in one sitting, but that's exactly what I did with this one over the weekend. The first page of the book sums up the plot much better than I ever could:

"I was thirteen when my dad caught me with Tommy Webber in the back of Tommy's Buick, parked next to the old Chart House down in Montara at eleven o'clock on a Tuesday night. Tommy was seventeen and the supposed friend of my brother, Darren.
I didn't love him.
I'm not even sure I liked him.
The car was cold and Tommy w...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I had been wanting to read it for a long time and I am so glad that I finally got the chance, it showed that not every girl needs a boy to save her, that not every girl needs anyone to save her for that matter. Sometimes you just have to figure out life yourself. That is exacly what Deanna does and while she may have some help from some unlikely people at some points along the way the one who truly changes her point of view and life is herself.

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May 18, 2012 Watermelon Daisy rated it 3 of 5 stars

FIRST IMPRESSION:
Something dark and hopeful. Y’know, something that’ll make me think afterwards.

WRITING STYLE:
It was okay. Nothing special, though.

PLOT:
The plot was the main problem. It was a little too bland. Sure, it kept me on my toes, but there wasn’t much I got out of it. Although I am glad her condition wasn’t rape, and that it was all intentional –it just makes it a little more realistic and a little less character-pitying.

CHARACTERS:
The side-characters were the best. I love Deena’s app...more

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Nov 23, 2008 KENNIQUESHA added it

This was a really cool book. and i learned never let your brothers best friend get to you...

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Jul 27, 2008 Miriam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Deceptively simple, but moving, story about a girl who accidentally gets herself into a lot of trouble. I liked that she was always regretting what she said, but couldn't really stop herself from doing it. There's something about writing an unsympathetic character or at least one whose actions kind of make you cringe that I think is admirable. I am kind of surprised it was a National Book Award finalist...I actually think that the Sarah Dessen book I read recently was more complex. But, who am I...more

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Jan 01, 2009 82_little_red rated it 4 of 5 stars

Trying to forget what about happened three years ago when her father caught her in the backseat with her brother’s best friend, Tommy, Deanna’s life is never the same. She has to deal with be calling the ‘’school slut’’ at age thirteen to age sixteen, even though she only did it with one boy. Her father thinks as she a disappointment and nothing else. The only people who still have are her two friends, and her brother Darren. Darren isn’t the number one son himself, since he got his girlfriend...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-in-one-sitting

I sort of happened upon this book. I was looking up books for the Accelerated Reading program, and this one caught my attention to the point where I decided to read it. My expectations were not high at all, but I devoured this book in a couple of hours and I am left feeling a bit heart-broken for everything Deanna went through.

This novel is a perfect illustration of the double-standards that exist in our society. If a man sleeps around he is a god among men, but if a woman does then she is a slu...more I sort of happened upon this book. I was looking up books for the Accelerated Reading program, and this one caught my attention to the point where I decided to read it. My expectations were not high at all, but I devoured this book in a couple of hours and I am left feeling a bit heart-broken for everything Deanna went through.

This novel is a perfect illustration of the double-standards that exist in our society. If a man sleeps around he is a god among men, but if a woman does then she is a slut. It was even more devastating in Story of a Girl because the woman in question is actually a 13 year old girl just looking to belong and looking to find something in her life that she felt was missing. She allowed herself to be used by an older high school student, and it cost her dearly. She ended up with a reputation for being a skank (never mind the fact that Tommy is the only guy she has slept with), and it deeply affects every single one of her relationships. There were several times that I just wanted to cry with sheer frustration over the injustice of it all. (view spoiler)

I am very pleased with the ending. I was able to close the book and feel as though, just maybe, everything was going to be okay. As much as I love a depressing story, a little bit of hope at the end never hurts.

For a book that I grabbed on a whim, I am impressed with what I read. I applaud the author for tackling the issues that she did with this novel. I am especially pleased that she did not get sanctimonious and act as though sex is some sacred act that needs to be reserved for married people. Deanna, though she struggled with fallout from hooking up with her brother's friend, acknowledged a physical reaction to being close to Tommy. I did not leave this thinking that the author was attempting to shove abstinence down the throat of the reader (if you'll excuse my choice of words).

I plan on looking through everything else the author has written and reading anything that grabs my attention. (less)

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Nov 25, 2012 Gail rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: wide-reading-project, ya-recommendations-for-students, strong-first-person-pov, age-high-school

Like many of the young adult fiction texts I have read recently (including the Printz award winners and nominees that I read for my Inquiring Minds project), Sara Zarr's Story of a Girl is, in my opinion, so moving and successful because of the voice and characterization of the protagonist, Deanna. The first person perspective allows us to see inside the individual that Deanna herself is both disappointed in and unsure of. Her attempt to get out of a small town and even a family, to some degree,...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Suad Shamma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, 2012

The book revolves around the story of Deanna Lambert - who is basically more white-trash than middle-class - and who committed the unforgivable crime of sleeping with a seventeen year old when she was only thirteen. It gets worse though, because her own father catches her in the act, and the boy then turns to slander her name all over town dubbing her a "slut".

Three years later, Deanna has not set a foot wrong, she is a "good girl" yet still the "town slut" - not sure how that works, but it does...more The book revolves around the story of Deanna Lambert - who is basically more white-trash than middle-class - and who committed the unforgivable crime of sleeping with a seventeen year old when she was only thirteen. It gets worse though, because her own father catches her in the act, and the boy then turns to slander her name all over town dubbing her a "slut".

Three years later, Deanna has not set a foot wrong, she is a "good girl" yet still the "town slut" - not sure how that works, but it does. Her father has not spoken to her in those three years, has not even looked at her. Her brother impregnated his girlfriend and now has a baby daughter called April, whom Deanna adores. And Deanna's best friend Jason is going out with her other best friend Lee (and that's a female by the way, I know, I thought he was gay too).

Things only get worse when Deanna takes a summer job at a pizzeria, only to find Tommy - the boy she slept with at thirteen - working there. You'd think she'd quit, but nope, she still takes the job.

Obviously, there are deeper themes and meanings behind the storyline, like Deanna's strength, and determination. Her pride and courage in putting up with her reputation every single day, putting up with her judgmental father, and putting up with her miserable life that is going nowhere. I respected her for her ability to face each day, even though it would have been much easier to disappear or run away. And I respected her for tying up all loose ends and standing up to her worries and fears at the end. I also related very much to her low self-esteem, her lack of confidence, and her paranoia. I could understand the family drama that ensued, I could understand how difficult it is to have a relationship between a father and a daughter, how difficult it was for them to convey emotions. But I loved the relationship between Deanna and her brother Darren and his wife and daughter.

All in all, a good read in that it contained very interesting themes and messages. It just lacked a solid plot and storyline for me. (less)

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Nov 05, 2012 Mrs. S rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Sara Zarr is really great at balancing high stakes with realism. Her characters start out in bad situations--like Deanna Lambert, whose father found her having sex with her older brother's best friend when she was thirteen, and who can't escape that story in her tiny town, and whose beloved older brother now lives in the basement of their parents' house with his baby and girlfriend--but they never teeter over into implausibility. She writes about people in these situations, not Teen Issues. And...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Brianna.lee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sara Zarr's "The Story of a Girl" holds a certain feeling of drama and intensity. It has a few moral's or messages including fear of embarrassment overrule your life. But the most important lesson is to not feed into the power of rumors which is why "The Story of a Girl" is relate-able to many teens today in the fact of feeling alone or misunderstood.
The message that you shouldn't feed into rumors is important because believing a rumor can destroy a person's self esteem and can make someone f...more Sara Zarr's "The Story of a Girl" holds a certain feeling of drama and intensity. It has a few moral's or messages including fear of embarrassment overrule your life. But the most important lesson is to not feed into the power of rumors which is why "The Story of a Girl" is relate-able to many teens today in the fact of feeling alone or misunderstood.
The message that you shouldn't feed into rumors is important because believing a rumor can destroy a person's self esteem and can make someone feel like less of a person inside. In the book, the main character Deana often deals with rumors when an older boy Tommy tells people a version of what happened between them one night at the beach. Since he is an older student in high school he has plenty of time to spread his version before she gets there. By the time she reaches the school everyone there thinks of her as a slut. After a while Deana starts to believe these rumors herself.
Another conflict in this boo that is relate-able is that she feels her father and her don't get along very well. Many teens today feel like they don't get along very well with their parents or guardians. This could be from a lack of trust or communication which often is in response to an event that happened between the two people. In Deana's case it was when her father followed her and Tommy to the beach and found them.
This book also relates to Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak". Both have similar setting and plots. They take place in high schools with a female character that's a freshman and a male character that's a senior. Both involve there being some kind of relationship that was twisted and wrenched into something misleading. But mostly both have strong messages telling teens to stand up for yourself and others around you.
I recommend this book to any teens, male or female, having a problem in high school. These books encourage teens to speak out against rumors and bullying towards themselves and others. Also, they are good to read and can make people more aware of the problems going on in high school and less oblivious to conflicts.(less)

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Oct 09, 2012 Amanda Childs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: engl-420-fall-2012

PRESENTATION AUTHOR BOOK

Haunted by her past, Deanna can't seem to get away from the label of town slut. Everyone knows she slept with her brother's seventeen-year-old friend when she was only thirteen, and most people refuse to let her live it down, no matter how good she is, and no matter who she tries to be now. Three years have passed since Deanna's dad caught her having sex, and even now he still sees her as a slut too. As she struggles to redefine who she is by what she does, wants, and nee...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Stephanie A. rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: girl-protagonists, contemporary-ya

This book promised to "throw a sharp right hook at the assumptions people make about girls who have sex early." I highly doubted that, since the girl was 13 in the flashbacks and the opening sentences told me it was a deliberate decision on her part, but I pretended to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the book was also very careful to make sure and show me how she had no good reason for having sex early other than being the sort of idiot I despised in my peers when I was that age.

My problem is tha...more This book promised to "throw a sharp right hook at the assumptions people make about girls who have sex early." I highly doubted that, since the girl was 13 in the flashbacks and the opening sentences told me it was a deliberate decision on her part, but I pretended to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the book was also very careful to make sure and show me how she had no good reason for having sex early other than being the sort of idiot I despised in my peers when I was that age.

My problem is that I have never understood why girls want to hurry up and be thought of as "grown up." By the time I was 10, I was already nostalgic for childhood and wanted the aging process to slow down and stretch out. At 13, I still didn't quite feel old enough to date. Kissing was a grown-up activity you surely ought to be at least 14 to do. And, um, adults said drugs were bad, so...neither I nor my 13-year-old self can wrap our brains around why Little Miss Deanna here took a hit off a joint so an older guy would think she was cool. Did you miss the part where smoking pot makes you seem like a loser? That's what I learned in D.A.R.E. Which was still pretty fresh in my mind come middle school.

You hope that when the book switches back to her 16-year-old perspective, it will show you how far she's come or some kind of lessons she's learned, but no. Not really. Or at all.

My favorite character in this book is their father, who pretty much despises both of his children for their sexual misadventures and isn't afraid to show it (and who frankly is being more generous than he needs to be in allowing his son's girlfriend and their baby to live with them). His attitude cracks me up.

"She was up at five with the baby, Dad," Darren said. "She deserves to sleep in."
"What, she wants a reward for being a decent mother? Getting up with the baby is just part of the deal when you decide to get pregnant [and keep the baby]."

Anyway, just for kicks, I kept up a running commentary while reading this book -- so if you've finished and would like to read along...
(view spoiler)

FINAL CONCLUSION: I would like the time I invested in this book back, as if this story is anything to go by, my prior assumptions were quite accurate. She was a silly child then, who ought to have known better simply by listening to a society that told her what to avoid, and three years have given her scarcely any maturity at all. Forever shunning this title, starting now.

[2012 note: For the record, it took me years to get over my contempt of this story long enough to touch another book by Sara Zarr, whose name immediately became synonymous with every negative thing I could think of about "edgy" YA.](less)

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About Sara Zarr

Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of four novels for young adults: Story of a Girl (National Book Award Finalist), Sweethearts (Cybil Award Finalist), Once Was Lost (a Kirkus Best Book of 2009) and How to Save a Life. Her short fiction and essays have also appeared in Image, Hunger Mountain, and several anthologies. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, and online at www.sarazarr.co ...more

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“Forgetting isn't enough. You can paddle away from the memories and think they are gone. But they will keep floating back, again and again and agian. They circle you, like sharks. Until, unless, something, someone? Can do more than just cover the wound. ” — 176 people liked it

“That's how you know you really trust someone, I think; when you don't have to talk all the time to make sure they still like you or prove that you have interesting stuff to say.” — 104 people liked it

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