I realized how wide-reaching and eclectic the world of young adult literature could be when I picked up Kirsten Smith‘s novel, THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD. Written entirely in poetry, this “novel” offers some of the most perceptive and insightful glimpses into the mind of a young girl stuck smack dab in the middle of teenage angst. She is lost and confused and trying to make sense of it all through her poetry. It is an absolute gem of a book and many of the poems stayed with me for a long time. It is also unlike anything I have ever read and was such a joy! Here is an excerpt:

One day, I’ll find my way away from here

and go somewhere real

and do something great

and be someone wonderful.

One day, I will be standing at the shore

of a completely different body of water

and it will be big and wild and dangerous

and it will be like this one

never even existed.

This is the first poem from the book and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I felt an immediate connection with the protagonist Penny Morrow and the confusion she felt with her life. What more do teenagers dream of doing than living a life far bigger than the one they are currently living?

When I read the author’s biography and discovered that she was the cowriter of Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, I was pleasantly surprised. The poem that Julia Stiles reads at the end of 10 Things was one of my favorite moments in that movie and that’s exactly what reading this book was like.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF GIRLHOOD came out a few years ago, but I just had to weigh in on this incredible tale.

Update: I just checked out Kirsten Smith’s website and it looks like she also wrote THE UGLY TRUTH, which is out now with Katherine Heigl…I think I know what I will be doing this weekend!