Country Girl, City Girl

by Lisa Jahn-Clough

Phoebe Sharp has long red braids. She wears old beat-up sneakers and clothes from Goodwill. She lives with her father and brother on a small farm in Maine, where she reads fairy tales to her goats and snaps pictures with her Instamatic camera. Phoebe doesn’t have a single friend, never mind a boyfriend—that is, not until she meets Melita.
Melita arrives at the Sharps’ farm in a see-through T-shirt and strappy platform sandals that show off her drawn-on “tattoo.” With her caramel-colored skin, stylish clothes, and urban attitude, Melita seems as different from Phoebe as two teenage girls could be. Through the summer, the girls grow to know each other. As their friendship develops, confusing feelings also begin to emerge. Could their friendship be deepening into something more?

Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Lesbian, Queer, Contemporary, Fiction

185 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2004

About the author

Lisa Jahn-Clough has published picture books, early readers and young adult novels. Her work has won awards from Child Magazine, Parent’s Choice, Bank Street, Raising Readers, and Entertainment Weekly. Her upcoming book, THE KIDS OF CATTYWAMPUS STREET is released July 2021.

Lisa went to Hampshire College and has an MFA from Emerson College. She is now Associatev Professor at Rowan Univ, and also teaches at Hamline Univ. in the Writing for Children and YA low-residency program.

She lives with her husband and their Sato dog in Portland, Maine in a little yellow house in the summer, and across from a cornfield in southern New Jersey in the winter.

Reviews

[Emily Rhoads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. A bit younger than I enjoy reading, but it was nice to read what was obviously geared towards tweens and young teens have themes of sexual questioning. I wish books like this were more mainstream so kids out there could realize they are not alone!

[Alexis Kloehn · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Country Girl, City Girl” started off as a pretty good book. I was expecting just a book about two girls that met; one that was from the city and one from the country. I was right, but there was so much more than that. Melita was the city girl. She had to move in with Phoebe, the country girl, for the summer. Her mom was getting help because she was depressed. They started out pretty rough but eventually became really good friends. They had this idea to do a runway/show/play type thing about strong women in older Disney movies like “Cinderella” and “Snow White.” Everything was all good until things got weird. They decided it would be smart to practice kissing. I was really freaked out by that, because I am not used to that type of thing. The whole plan almost failed because Melita’s mom came to pick her up early. The girls were very upset because she had to leave. A few weeks later Melita’s mom called Phoebe’s dad and planned for Phoebe to come visit in New York. That’s where they did the play and Phoebe confessed to Melita that she was in love with her and she didn’t feel the same way. They agreed to stay friends. I, honestly, am not sure how I feel about this book and am not sure if I would recommend it to anyone.

[heffa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nostalgic reread for me. I read this book when I was young and it was the first piece of queer media that I ever experienced. I had no idea that this was a queer book when I got it at the Used book store, and my mom definitely would not have let me buy it if she would’ve known.

One of the parts that I remember, the most fondly was Phoebe and Melita‘s fashion show. This was probably one of the first introductions I had to feminism, looking back! The feminism in this is definitely “baby feminism” about not needing a prince because “I can save myself,” but that is the extent of the feminism I understood at 13 (although I think young people are more aware these days).

There was a bit of transphobia by the main characters towards an androgynous character, and a couple of body shamey comments made by the main character. Just a handful of language changes that could be made to make the book more inclusive.

It was also very interesting to me that Melita and Tomas (her being 13 and he was maybe 16/17 if I remember correctly?) were acting like adults when they were in New York. They had a dinner party where they got sushi takeout and had a whole dinner party with chopsticks and everything. Tomas brought a bottle of sake and they drank sake out of ceramic sake cups in their New York apartment. Okay drunk tweens. And then Tomas and Melita went out dancing. Like DANCING WHERE MAMA? The Mickey Mouse club? I need answers.

Overall, the story was a sweet and beautiful story of a couple of middle school girls, and covers a lot of topics like friendship, feminism, love, mental health, questioning sexuality.
I love that this book ends in a hopeful and realistic way.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really sweet. A great story with a main character who is perfectly developed and easy, I'm sure, for a lot of girls to relate to. As she struggles with her identity, she is surprisingly self-aware about growing up, but it is a pleasure to get there with her.

Lisa was my professor for several classes at Emerson, so maybe it seems like I'd be overly positive, but I think it made me even more critical while reading this--I know what kind of things she expected from our writing, and so I counted on that same level of quality. This definitely lives up to that.

Also, this book's dedication is probably as close as I'll get to ever having any books dedicated to me, even in a vague and general way, so that's pretty awesome.

[Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important story, very simply told. Thirteen-year-old Phoebe begins to explore her sexuality when a girl from the city comes to stay with her family. Throughout the book, Phoebe shows an openness to exploration and only ever offers up confusion as to what she's feeling, never revulsion. Very, very nice.

[Camille]

What was I even thinking getting this book? I didn't realize it was a "sexual awareness" book until after I started reading it and checked out the reviews. Then I realized the main character is in 8th grade! I stopped reading it then.

[Joseph McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very warm, very enchanting read! I felt compelled to follow the characters as their relationship developed and as they matured and changed in relation to the world at large. Lisa did a fantastic job in managing time and location shifts, juggling the dichotomy of rural New England and urban New York city.

The emotions were genuine, the trouble relatable, and the innocence of youth captured and delivered in an honest and unadulterated voice.

This was a sincere and heartwarming read. Thank you, Lisa.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. It's all about a girl struggling with her sexual identity and her strong feelings toward another girl. Does seem a little strange this book is about 'sexual awareness' when the girl is only 13. Which seems a bit awkward. Though, I did find this book in the teenage section of the library. Which was where it most likely belongs.

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queer YA novel, but about 13-year-old girls. I liked that both girls were way more open to learning about each other than those in other similar books.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.

[Mirasol Quisto]

I thought I bought a good book on a bargain, but to my dismay, I didn't have fun at all or finish the remaining chapters. Too lousy for me.

[*Weebles* · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, but not one of my favorites.