Tupelo Hassman has left me intrigued. Her debut novel is part poetry, part visual art, and a significant portion is just great storytelling. I have written her name down on my ‘need to read list’ so I will remember to jump on the ‘hold’ list for her next novel.
Rory Dawn Hendrix lives with her mother on the margin of society in the Calle de las Flores, a trailer park outside of Reno. Her mom tends bar at the local ‘Truck Stop’ and then spends her after work hours drinking her earnings. Growing up has been left largely to Rory to figure out on her own– supplemented with occasional advice from her grandmother. Early in her elementary years, Rory discovers The Girl Scout Handbook and she has checked it out so often that her name fills all the lines on the circulation card. But even clearly defined chapters such as The Right Use of Your Body and Finding Your Way When You are Lost does not provide the necessary direction she needs to survive life on the Calle. Even with the handbook’s guidance, Rory still must face the fact that she is in a troop all her own. With intelligence, wit, and brassiness, she is able to navigate an escape route when she finds herself on her own.
This is a book unlike any I have ever read. The brevity of some chapters hit the mark dead on. The complexity of the characters are so well developed that I swear that I definitely know these people by the time I finished the book.
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