Girl, Hero

by Carrie Jones

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEED AND CAPTIVATE After landing a lead role in the high school musical, freshman Liliana Faltin is hoping for some stability and happiness in her life. But her mom's live-in boyfriend has a thing for booze, touching, and telling dark family secrets. And the other people in her world aren't exactly role-model material, either. Her unreliable father cries a lot, wears blue tights, and drives a little beige car. Her backstabbing best friend cares more about being popular than being real. And her older, married sister is showing up with big purple bruises on her face. Then there's Paolo, who's cute and nice and makes Lily want to recite romantic movie lines. To deal, Lily writes letters to John Wayne. Sure, he's a dead movie cowboy, but at least the Duke knew about doing the right thing, about being a hero. Now, Lily just needs to figure out how to be a hero herself. Praise for Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend and Love (and other uses for duct tape) : "Provocative . . . The author's poetic prose ably captures her heroine's emotional upheavals."
― Publishers Weekly "...honest, earthy, and appealing." ― KLIATT "An emotional story that's true at heart." ― Kirkus

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Teen

312 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

***SO MANY APOLOGIES***

I had been unable to get into my Goodreads account for years. If you have friended me, I have just friended you back (July 2021). If you have messaged me, I'm going to be working through those in the upcoming weeks.

Thank you all for reaching out and I'm so sorry.

Now onto the regularly scheduled bio:

Carrie Jones likes Skinny Cow fudgsicles and potatoes. She does not know how to spell fudgsicles. This has not prevented her from writing books. She lives with her cute family in Maine, but she grew up in Bedford, NH where she once had a séance with cool uber-comedian Sarah Silverman.

The Meyers brothers are from Bedford, too, so you’d think it would make Carrie funnier, coming from Bedford N.H. Obviously, something didn’t work.

Carrie has always liked cowboy hats but has never owned one. This is a very wrong thing. She graduated from Vermont College’s MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Here’s the lowdown about Carrie…

1. Carrie can not drink coffee. It makes her insane. Do not give her caffeine.
2. Carrie is very responsive to loving strokes on the hair, kind of like a puppy. However, do not do this without asking first unless you are a ridiculously handsome man or an editor who is about to offer her a trillion dollars for the first draft of her novel.
3. Carrie is secretly really, really shy even though she’s pathetically outgoing in person. She has a very hard time calling people. So, if you want to talk to her, make the first move. And, if you’re her in-Maine female best friend, Jennifer, do NOT get mad at her because she is so bad at returning emails.
4. Carrie sometimes wears mismatched socks, if you do not think this is cool, do not tell her. You will hurt her feelings.
5. Carrie really, really wants you to like her books. Please like her books. PLEEEAASSSEEEE. She’ll be your best friend forever. That is, if you want a friend who is shy about calling and emailing and who wears mismatched socks and can’t drink caffeine and likes being pet on the head. Hhmmm….
6. Carrie is not above begging.
7. Carrie, like Belle in TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND drinks Postum. It’s for the same reason, too.
8. Carrie loves Great Pyrenees dogs. They are huge and white, and furry and it looks like they have white eyeliner and mascara on, which is way too cute. Do you have one? Send a picture!
9. Carrie lives in Maine. She has a hard time with this in the winter. It is bleak in Maine in the winter. Imagine everything shades of gray and brown and no green anywhere except for in people’s noses. This is Maine in Winter. Maine in summer is the best place in the world, so it’s a trade-off. Feel free to invite Carrie to your house in the winter, but not if it’s in Greenland, Canada, or anywhere north of Florida.
10. Forget that. She’d still probably come.

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really hated this book when I started it a few years ago, and finishing it now, it isn't bad, but it half-explores a lot of issues worse than if it just picked one and ran with it.

The book has a weird relationship with toxic masculinity: it tries to champion feminism and eliminating gender roles, but in the process it only reinforces what it talks against. It does the same thing with homophobia/gay rights: it's really hard to remember that the book is pro-LGBT, pro-live your life when there are lines about "living a life of sin" and how men shouldn't cry. It's contradictory and there's plenty of better books that have been written in the 10 years since with stronger messages. Unless you're literally obsessed with John Wayne like the main character is, this isn't worth the time.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing.

I love the spunky protagonist. She’s funny, smart, and so devoted to the things she does. She’s a real feminist, a real heroine, or trying to become one, anyway. Lily thinks that she can help everyone just like John Wayne, this dead guy whom she writes woeful letters to. What’s amazing is that it’s so honest and perceptive. It’s not just guys who want to save the day. Girls want to sweep into someone’s life and make a difference. It’s just a really different look into such a powerful protagonist. She will really inspire you.

Despite her power as a character, there are moments in the book about what she has to go through that will truly touch her. She addresses individualism and how her views on her best friend changes after Nicole’s obsession with popularity. She can ditch her close-minded best friend with such guts that it amazes me. All those years of friendship down the drain in a matter of seconds. But it doesn’t make Lily heartless. In fact, you’ll be rooting for her the entire time. There’s also other stuff about embarrassing fathers and neglectful mothers. Her mom’s an exact portrayal of a lonely woman seeking love in the wrong places with a wrong man. It’s heartbreaking, because there will always be divorced or single women out there who still believe that life isn’t full until a man—just one damn man—is present in their life. It’s a depressing thought. I’ll all for feminism and individualism.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but it took awhile to get going. It’s a pretty fast read though. The characters are all well-developed for the most part, although it can be hard to keep track of them at times. There are a lot of elements at work here, but the author makes them work, and mostly keeps them from getting too confusing. The main character, Liliana, is easy to like, and you really feel for what she’s going through.

Liliana’s budding romance with Paolo is, for the record, adorable.

But I’m not a fan of the title. “Girl, Hero”? Is it up to debate whether girls can be heroes? Maybe 50 years ago, but now I think we’re a bit beyond that. Why not just call it “Hero”? Or, better yet, “Saddle Up,” which is a line Lilianna quotes to herself over and over in the book. Anyway, they could have done better.

I have some major problems with the design of this book. Mainly, the copyright information is directly facing the first chapter, and it’s really distracting. I could maybe excuse this if they were trying to conserve pages, but there’s a completely superfluous half-title page before the title page. They could have easily moved stuff around to accommodate the copyright page somewhere else, but instead it just looks messy and amateurish.

The cover itself, however, is good. The shadow of the cowboy behind her looks great, and totally conveys how Liliana is looking to a classic icon for strength, in her own way.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. This book deals with some hard and serious issues but it is definetly worth the read. It's about abuse, family issues, growing apart from friends, love and just trying to be yourself. This book took my emotions on a rollcoaster ride making me feel angry and wanting to cry to laughing and smiling.

Liliana was such a strong character and she made some difficult choices. The last 100 pages I didn't put the book down as I wanted to know how she was going to deal with everything.

I definetly will be reading more books by Carrie Jones.

[Jollee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly this book started out very, very boring. I contemplated not reading it, but i stuck it out til the end. The whole book is written from a 14 year old girls perspective who is having a hard time in life at the moment, to cope with this she writes letters to her hero, John Wayne. After about half way in it finally gets interesting, when she meets an amazing boy and her moms new boyfriend turns abusive. The ending was pretty good, but I would only suggest reading this if you are very bored and have nothing better to do.

[Kate Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this book 2.75 for a handful of reasons. It was written in a way where it’s easy to read, which is nice although there are problems with it. It displays masculinity in the characters in a weird toxic way. It talks about how ‘men shouldn’t cry’ and how they are meant to be tough and strong. it’s hard to think of this book as a open minded book even though that is what it is meant to be. Like another user said. unless you are really into John Wayne like Lily, this isn’t that great of a book.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good and emotional book...just a little hard to get started

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole story is told writing letters to John Wayne. Odd connection to the pieces of the story. Friend play sister boyfriend mom’s boyfriend

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jones, Carrie. 2008. Girl, Hero.

I don't know why I was surprised by Girl, Hero being so wonderfully fantastic. I enjoyed both of Carrie Jones' previous novels: Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend, and Love (and Other Uses For Duct Tape). Perhaps it was the John Wayne factor. You see, the novel, Girl, Hero, consists of letters from our heroine, Liliana Faltin, to the legendary (but deceased) John Wayne. I was skeptical at first. But it worked. It really worked. Here's our introduction:

Dear Mr. Wayne,

My mother's got a man coming to see her. She's all excited, running around, getting ready, making me clean up the whole house. She thinks this man might be the one, you know, the big enchilada, her soul's mate, her life's light, and stuff. She's always thinking that.
She's had men before, since my stepfather died. But this guy's going to stay with us in our house, for a while. Not too long, she tells me. Just until he's back on his feet. This one's moving back east from Oregon and needs a place to sleep while he looks for work.
I think, that's what hotels are for, but she's so happy, humming all the time, singing Celine Dion songs, that I don't say anything that I'm thinking in my head.
She's made up the guest bedroom. I don't think he'll stay there. I don't know who she thinks she's fooling. Not me.
He's a tall man, Mr. Wayne, like you. She knew him a long time ago, back when she was married to my father. On the phone his voice sounds Western, or Texan, like he has traces of sand and grit stuck in it that float out with his words when he talks. He sounds like he's been in the desert a long, damn while and hasn't had any water to drink and has a mighty thirst.
He doesn't sound like he's from Maine, but she says he was born and raised here.
I didn't know that people could move and have their accents change, that all their baby years and teenage years of talking could just get erased.
My mother blows air out her nose when I say this to her, and she taps her fingernails on the kitchen counter, crosses her legs and gets out a cigarette.
People adapt, Liliana, she says, and the whole sentence is just one long exasperated sigh.
It's kind of cool in a way, the adapting thing. I mean, depending on how bad high school goes, I might want to erase all of it and pretend I'm someone else when I go to college--if I get into college.
My mom thinks this man will be like you: a hero kind of man with a clean face and soul. She thinks that about every man she sees. But they never are. There's only one you. (1-2)

Jones' writing speaks for itself. She is an authentic writer, her characters have heart and soul--meaning depth and layers. And her stories have spirit or staying power. There's something about her books that just work.

"Sometimes I think friends are a necessary evil, say like McDonald's burgers. You need to have them, you want to have them, but sometimes they make your stomach ache." (6)

"Dear Mr. Wayne

Before you were a movie star, did you have to do homework? I should get a biography about you so that I can know these things, but I'm afraid to. What if I open up the book and start reading and find out you aren't who I think you are? I want people to be who they're supposed to be, but nobody ever seems to want to. I'll give it to you firsthand, Mr. Wayne: nobody in this world seems to be who they are. And my guess is that most people don't even know who they are supposed to be. Which sucks. I'm not supposed to use that word. My mother acts like it's worse than the f-word or something. You would probably say the same thing." (24)

"Sometimes I get so scared, Mr. Wayne. Sometimes I am so far from being the cowboy with the hat and the horse and my gun drawn and ready. Sometimes I'm so far away from anything I want to be and it's like that sunset you're always riding to but you never quite reach." (104)

"Sometimes I think hugs are like helmets. Sometimes I wish I could walk around with someone hugging me the whole time. You could probably make a lot of money doing that, being a professional hugger." (262)

I just fell in love with this book. With the characters. With their stories. With the language itself. With the cover itself. Everything about this book is just right, it's practically perfect right.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liliana’s or Lili as her friends and family call her, world is slowly falling apart. Her mother’s new boyfriend is a freak who has a nasty alcohol addiction and creeps Lili out as he stands silently outside of her bedroom every night. Then there’s her father who is a little emotional and very forgetful who Lili loves a lot, but just can’t seem to like. To top it all off her sister is in an abusive relationship and the one person she can turn to for relief, her best friend Nicole, has all of a sudden become a two-faced backstabber. All Lili wants in her life is a hero. Seeing that there is no one in her real life to turn to she writes letters to John Wayne. He may be a dead cowboy, but at least he is a positive influence in Lili’s life and knows what it takes to become a hero. When Lili befriends Sasha, a resident thespian, she convinces Lili to try out for the school play. Thinking there’s nothing to lose Lili goes for it hoping for the best. Along the way she meets Paolo, a wildcard in her foul hand of cards. He is sweet, caring, and extremely hot! Paolo, along with Sasha and a few others help Lili on her quest to becoming a hero.

How to tell you about this book??... It is powerful, hardcore, and utterly breathtaking. It made me cry and laugh and scream. Carrie Jones doesn’t hold back and makes us realize how lucky we are to have a life that isn’t infiltrated with hardship. This was one of the few books that actually made me cry. The situations that the characters were put into were told with such emotion that I couldn’t help but get all worked up. When I felt the characters did something stupid I screamed, when the teens were up to no good I laughed, and most of all I cried to think that someone as sweet as Lili had to endure such pain. The whole story was told through Lili’s letters to John Wayne so we were able to really get to know the true Lili. She didn’t hold anything back in those letters where she was searching for a hero. Not only was Lili’s character great, but I loved how she found herself. Even though she suffered from unimaginable heartache she was still able to find it inside herself to be the best possible person that she could be. Overall this was an outstanding book that dealt with some of the hardest subjects. There was abuse, friendship, loss and love which all combined to form one heck of a poignant and beautiful novel that I will never, ever forget.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Tasha for TeensReadToo.com

Liliana's (or Lili, as her friends and family call her) world is slowly falling apart.

Her mother's new boyfriend is a freak who has a nasty alcohol addiction and creeps Lili out as he stands silently outside of her bedroom every night. Then there's her father, who is a little emotional and very forgetful, who Lili loves a lot, but just can't seem to like. To top it all off, her sister is in an abusive relationship and the one person she can turn to for relief, her best friend, Nicole, has all of a sudden become a two-faced backstabber.

All Lili wants in her life is a hero. Seeing that there is no one in her real life to turn to she writes letters to John Wayne. He may be a dead cowboy, but at least he is a positive influence in Lili's life and knows what it takes to become a hero. When Lili befriends Sasha, a resident thespian, she convinces Lili to try out for the school play. Thinking there's nothing to lose, Lili goes for it, hoping for the best. Along the way she meets Paolo, a wildcard in her foul hand of cards. He is sweet, caring, and extremely hot! Paolo, along with Sasha and a few others, help Lili on her quest to becoming a hero.

How to tell you about this book??... It is powerful, hardcore, and utterly breathtaking. It made me cry and laugh and scream. Carrie Jones doesn't hold back and makes us realize how lucky we are to have a life that isn't infiltrated with hardship. This was one of the few books that actually made me cry. The situations that the characters were put into were told with such emotion that I couldn't help but get all worked up. When I felt the characters did something stupid I screamed, when the teens were up to no good I laughed, and most of all I cried to think that someone as sweet as Lili had to endure such pain.

The whole story is told through Lili's letters to John Wayne, so we're able to really get to know the true Lili. She didn't hold anything back in those letters where she was searching for a hero. Not only was Lili's character great, but I loved how she found herself. Even though she suffered from unimaginable heartache, she was still able to find it inside herself to be the best possible person that she could be.

Overall, GIRL, HERO was an outstanding book that dealt with some of the hardest subjects. There was abuse, friendship, loss, and love, which all combined to form one heck of a poignant and beautiful novel that I will never, ever forget.

[Ryann Uden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up half-heartedly on my way to lunch yesterday - and found myself eagerly wanting to finish it last night and stayed up too late reading to do just that. Told as a series of letters from high school freshman Lily to her hero, John Wayne, this is a story about a girl finding herself in high school and overcoming past and present traumas. She has an unsupportive best friend, a grown sister in an abusive relationship, and a danger that becomes apparant from her mother's newest boyfriend. I particularly like the portrayal of first love for Lily and how her boyfriend and her new friends help her through a difficult time. she also experiences a rebirth of a relationship with her possibly gay father.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel started off slowly for me, but the more I read it the more I really, really liked it. It's a bit odd. But I loved the main character Liliana and I loved how the things that happened in the book were not all bad and not all good. I loved that there were very complex characters and that even by the end they weren't all tucked into neat little boxes. I will review this on my blog and I will have more to say then. Probably this book won't be everyone's cup of tea (like I said, it's a little odd), but I think it's one of my favorites this year.

Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/200...

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carrie Jones seems really hit and miss; a couple of her books have been really amazing, and some have been garbage. This one was one of the better ones. It is always nice to read about other teens who are obsessed with dead movie stars-- in this novel, it is John Wayne. (Mine was Gene Kelly.) There are good conflicts, emotionally honest and relevant conflicts, involving sexual abuse and parentage and her father's sexual identity. It also has some very funny moments involving a teen's attempt to become popular.

[Laura Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a girl named Lily. She is going through some tough times with her mom's "new boyfriend",who does some weird things, her dad, who wears blue tights in public, her best friend who seems to care about popularity more than being herself, and the play. She finds out that she is the lead girl in the school play, but who is the lead boy? The only way that she can get through this is by "writing" to a dead actor, but still her hero- John Wayne. Will Lily be able to find a hero in herself? Will she fix the problems in her life? Read this book and find out!(:

[Nari Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book not because of the characters, but because of the plot line. I personally found Lily a little snotty, even though she had a lot to go through. Also, I really disliked the ending of the book, which left everything hanging. I'm suspecting a possible sequel?

With all of the negatives aside, I really enjoyed "Girl, Hero" and how Lily would dream of being someone else, such as a cowboy, a hero. I also enjoyed how the story was told in letters to a famous, dead star who Lily adored.

[Sherrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is not perfect, for Lily or her friends. But together, things manage to work out.

Another good story by Carrie Jones. A hard subject to write about, yet she manages to keep a reader enthralled with what is happening.

Though there are tough issues developed in this book, such as spousal abuse, drinking problems, and being co-dependent, it did not leave me sad or angry.

I recommend this one for when you are needing a break from your usual genre.

[Alison Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character writes letters to her hero John Wayne in an attempt to deal with her dysfunctional family. Her mother is in a live-in relationship with an abusive drunk, her father may or may not be gay, and her sister is being beaten by her husband. Throughout most of this book I hated the main character - she was weak, complaining, wishy-washy. I just wanted her to stand up for herself. When she finally did, it was very satisfying.

[Yumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy some parts of the book and some I did enjoy. I didn't like the drama. I usually like drama ,but this was a little too much. The characters got too carried away. Also the way the transitions were written a little unclearly. For a second I thought she was in the car until it said bleachers. I liked the similes and descriptions. Also the twist in the middle it was so unexpected.

[Caitlín K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the originality of Girl, Hero, but I was also a bit disappointed because I expected something funnier. Laughing aloud when reading the author's blog (along with positive reviews of her other books) is what made me decide to read it.
Anyway, I don't remember laughing, but I did like it and it was original.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though Lily feels she is weak (unlike her favorite actor, John Wayne in all his Westerns) I find her to be a strong person who is pretty good at speaking up for herself. There are many family issues that need to be resolved. Will she be able to deal with these things so that she can enjoy the good things that are starting to happen in her life?

[Bayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book quite a bit, most of the time, I found Lily a very realistic character whom the reader could relate to, even if they have never gone through any of the hard stuff that Lily has. The writing flowed well and the characters were interesting and engaging. If there's a sequel, I'd love to read it.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

so amazing!!!! i have been in both lily and jessicas shoes and the way Carrie wrote this book, it was like i was right there in the emotions of it all right with the characters! loved this book soo much! totally amazing and inspirational! :D

[Alenette · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT was a good read! I love the John Wayne letters and Paolo Mattias isss cute! I always wish that I can be one of the characters in the book so I can remind her that she'll always be a hero for me! Cowboy style? Wagons forward!
Saddle up, readers!

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this novel. Carrie did a great job with the characters. I actually liked the main character. She wasn't weak or snivelling or mary sue. I don't think I will reread this, so I can only give it 3.5 stars.

[Rachel]

Released Aug 2008

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to love about a girl who writes letters to John Wayne?

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very easy to read.

[Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It's a little intense and even made me teary eyed. There is some swearing and it deals with some heavy subjects, but it is a great book.

[Nataytay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say this is one of my favorite books and I would recommend reading it!! :)