My Life as a Girl

by Elizabeth Mosier

It's the long, hot summer between high school and college, and Jaime Cody is working a double shift. Days at a greasy spoon called Franklin's All-American Diner; night at the Phoenix, a restaurant at a glitzy resort. She's hoping to earn the college money her father stole from her -- and leave herself no time to think.

A whole country lies between where Jaime is -- Arizona -- and where she wants to be -- Bryn Mawr, a college for women in Pennsylvania. The jobs mean the difference between making a life for herself and being duped by a man, the way her mother was.

The plan is perfect -- until a boy named Buddy appears, reminding her of a character in the romantic stories her mother still loves to tell.

No one has to know about Buddy.
He's Jaime's secret.
Just for the summer.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 1999

About the author

Novelist and essayist Elizabeth Mosier logged 1,000 volunteer hours processing colonial-era artifacts at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park Archeology Laboratory to write Excavating Memory: Archaeology and Home (New Rivers Press, 2019). A graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, her nonfiction has been selected as notable in Best American Essays and appears widely in journals and newspapers including Cleaver, Creative Nonfiction, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Poets and Writers. She writes the “Intersections” column for the Bryn Mawr Alumnae Bulletin.

Reviews

[Dewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first person narrative of Jaime’s seeking redemption at Bryn Mawr College, as she leaves behind a life of waitressing and coming of age with a local “bad” boy in Arizona, may speak to teenage readers on the brink of self-realization; but this is also a fully imagined novel with the cultural resonance and alertness of Frank Conroy’s classic STOP TIME (young Frank, of course, reaches his purchase at Haverford College). The boy in question, Buddy, has his particular energy and complexity on the other side of class and intellect; and how wonderfully Mosier resolves the romance: “giving yourself away was like giving away pearls…though I wouldn’t really understand it until I met the man I would marry and mourned what I’d squandered: my body, my privacy, my trust.”

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bryn Mawr was in hibernation, suspended in an eerie calm called "reading period" before a week of winter exams. Without the structure of classes, students were stunned; we slept in for the first time all semester, slid into the day sipping coffee and reading the paper, sat mesmerized at our computers answering e-mail. . . . We waited, in those first dark days of December, for the blue books to be offered, for the chance to sharpen our pencils and prove ourselves. There was an optimistic chill in the air, an echo of industry in the tense flapping of the college flag atop the old library, a graystone castle called Thomas Hall.

Gorgeous writing...sadly, about the most cliche subject. I am not and have never been here for "smart girl meets Bad News Boy who makes her swoon because Hot," but I am going to be generous and land on 4 stars rather than 3 because whenever he wasn't in a scene, I was captivated by the style.

Most of this book is an extended flashback to the summer before, where she's trying to build back the college fund her father recently gambled away by working nearly every waking moment. I loved the contrast between her two waitressing jobs (greasy-spoon diner by day, fine dining in a hotel by night), the descriptions of Arizona's weather/landscape/culture, her complicated relationship with a father she currently refuses to see while he cools his heels in jail, and her best friend, Rosa. I really wish there had been more time with the latter; I feel like I only got to know her and their history in glimpses, but they were all infinitely more intriguing than ~Buddy~.

I'm honestly stunned that the author has only published nonfiction since, because she seems like someone who would have gone on to make her mark in literary fiction -- even this feels like something that wasn't necessarily written with a teen audience in mind. It's fine for the older end of that audience (though I think I might have found it boring at that age), but should not be written off as only for them by any means.

P.S. After that first chapter, I'm honestly kind of upset that she didn't write another book set entirely at Bryn Mawr. I was ready to get lost in that atmosphere; I still am... In a better timeline, she would be where Courtney Sittenfeld is now.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I liked it. I'm not much for romance, so I won't lay it on with what I did/didn't like about it. It's about lost love, college romance, and "bad boys"--all encountered by Bryn Marter Jaime Cody. Some people think it's boring--I, on the other hand, found it interesting. Those who thought it dragged--why? Mosier excellently crafts her piece and has rich character development. The plot is simple--basically a bunch of Jaime's flashbacks, but that's no reason to not enjoy it. Of course, those are your opinions, so I'll leave it out there!

Teens would especially enjoy this book, if they like romance novels. Mosier doesn't sugarcoat it, but it's not a hard-as-rock story that's not realistic and is heartless. Adults might like to look back on college romances--I certainly remember those joyous/dreadful days.

So, overall, pretty good! I recommended it to a lot of people and they all enjoyed it pretty much...

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

When we meet Jaime Cody, she’s in the midst of her finals of her first year at Bryn Mawr College (a girls only school) and her ex-boyfriend, Buddy, has just shown up at her dorm to…we’re not sure what – visit, find out why she left him, get back together? Jaime is originally from Phoenix, AZ, and Buddy has driven all the way to the east coast (Pennsylvania) to see her. What follows is Jaime’s recollection of the previous summer – how her dad gambled away her college fund, how she had to work two waitressing jobs in order to pay for school, and how she met Buddy and fell into something with him despite her initial resistance. Funny, poignant, and sweet, this story of “good girl” meets “bad boy” will resonate with those who love their romance light and tantalizing, and their characters with some depth.

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was weird. The writing on the surface was great. The author knows how to write a gramatically correct and descriptive sentance but is fell flat in the story department. I didn't feel connected to the characters and I don't think I ever got a true sense of who they were and what they wanted. The plot was disjointed and the major portion of the novel was an unexplained flashback and I felt several key plot points were left hanging. I think this was an atempt to be artsy, and coy gone wrong. This author should write non-fiction as her writing is structuraly sound but the profound feeling that makes a great novel is lacking.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book after I met the author at a book signing. I thought it was terrific. It was beautifully written coming of age novel. I cared about all of the carefully crafted characters (including a sassy best friend-supporting character!) Recommended it to a number of more mature young readers. Each loved it. Got some nifty insight from the author when I e-mailed her after finishing the book too. Cool!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this book is pretty engrossing. It started off rather slow, as a girl at her all women's college talks of the woes of her past life in Phoenix. Then, by the second chapter, we are taken back in time to when she was living in Phoenix, working double shifts at two restaurants, trying to get money in order to get to Bryn Mawr, the all girls college she wants to attend in Philadelphia. I havent finished it yet, but i can already connect to it and see it as being a great book

[skein · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those intensely personal coming-of-age novels that only tries too damn hard and then loses itself, suddenly, falling into abrupt intimacy and pain.

Rather like reading a stolen diary: and then you realize the handwriting is your own.

Borrowed from the work "library" and returned to same.
(4-11 to 4-12).

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first love. A searing hot summer. A girl trying to figure out who she is and where she really belongs. All that and wonderful crisp writing make MY LIFE AS A GIRL a must read.

If you love books by Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han and Deb Caletti, you'll love Mosier's novel too. I picked it up, devoured it in two sittings, and was sorry when it was done. Highly recommended!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written; definitely one of those books that blurs the line between YA and adult.

[Christine]

Still reading -- and enjoying -- this book about a young college student struggling with a troubled past. Great writing.

[Kora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was happy with the ending but i had to get through a lot of the book to start to like it.

[Britt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've no memory of these books from 3havo xD

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just don't like it and would not recommend wasting your time.

[Asenath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of the story felt missing, and ending needed to be more complete. Wouldn't read again