Young Adult Book Review: “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell

Who knew that there is something called fanfiction? In Fangirl, by Eleanor & Park author Rainbow Rowell, Cath and her twin sister Wren have been writing an alternative narrative based on a fantasy wizard series called Simon Snow. Now both girls are entering Nebraska College as freshmen, and life is beginning to change, a lot. Cath can’t believe that Wren wants space between them. Wren wants her own roommate, classes, friends, and social life that doesn’t include Cath.

Both girls — and their single father — have emotional baggage since their mother walked out of the house at the start of third grade. At first at college, Cath is overly needy, not even locating the cafeteria for the first weeks in school, but eating her stash of protein bars instead. Her roommate Reagan is a senior and has definitely been around the block. Levi, the boy who seems glued at the hip to Reagan, begins to appeal to Cath, too. In this coming-of-age novel, the reader learns — along with Cath — what an author does when writing fiction, how to deal with a distant sibling, and what it’s like to find a first love even while hiding from most relationships. Rowell has written a compelling story about a gifted girl who must make her own way in unexpected circumstances.

St Martin’s Griffin, New York (2013). Reviewed by Lillian Hecker, Children’s Services Librarian. For ages 14 and up.