Girl by Bart Bare

Title: Girl: a novel
Author: Bart Bare
Publisher: Vilas, North Carolina : Canterbury House Publishing (2010)
ISBN: 9780982539644 0982539649
Pages: 182


4 bookmarks

Loren Creek isn't your typical teenager. Most teenagers live with their parents. Loren lives by herself, illegally. After her mother dies from cancer and the state tries to force her into foster care, Loren runs away from the mountains of Tennessee and crosses over into Boone, North Carolina with the help of 2 friends. There, she sets up a new life, disguised as Lorne. Living as Lorne, she rents a house from an old man, posing as his grandson and enrolls in the local high school. There, Lorne is one of the guys and even becomes one of the stars on the football team. All the while, her caseworker from Tennessee is desperate to find her. Living a double life as Lorne is hard on Loren, but she makes the best of it and is able to get by until disaster strikes during a game. Then, the truth about her past and her identity comes out with surprising results.

While the book was pretty well written Loren/Lorne does not always seem like a teenager. She seems to be more of an adult that some of the adults in the book. She's more responsible and insightful than a lot of the adults that I know. I can't make up my mind whether or not this was intentional.

I think that this book seemed a bit more real because it is set in Boone, NC. I have spent a good deal of time there, and Bart Bare is able to capture the city well.