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Summary
Summary
Eighteen-year-old Tally is absolutely sure of everything: her genius, the love of her adoptive family, the loyalty of her best friend, Shane, and her future career as a Nobel prize-winning astronomer. There's no room in her tidy world for heartbreak or uncertainty--or the charismatic, troubled mother who abandoned her soon after she was born. But when a sudden discovery upends her fiercely ordered world, Tally sets out on an unexpected quest to seek out the reclusive musician who may hold the key to her past--and instead finds Maddy, an enigmatic and beautiful girl who will unlock the door to her future. The deeper she falls in love with Maddy, the more Tally begins to realize that the universe is bigger--and more complicated--than she ever imagined. Can Tally face the truth about her family--and find her way home in time to save herself from its consequences?
About a Girl is the powerful and entrancing conclusion to Sarah McCarry's Metamorphoses trilogy.
Author Notes
SARAH MCCARRY is the author of the novels All Our Pretty Songs and Dirty Wings, and the editor and publisher of the chapbook series Guillotine.
Reviews (4)
Horn Book Review
This conclusion to the magical realism trilogy (All Our Pretty Songs; Dirty Wings) follows Aurora's precocious daughter Tally on a trip to find the guitarist Jack, who might be her father. Tally's erudite first-person narration dovetails strangely and marvelously with the Jason and the Argonautsinspired events of her trip and her passionate, unmooring affair with Maddy, a magnetic loner reminiscent of Medea. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
McCarry's final installment in the Metamorphoses series follows Tally, daughter of Aurora from All Our Pretty Songs (2013), as she travels to a remote corner of Washington to track down a man she thinks is her father. Tally grew up in New York City, where her household of two gay not-dads and a sometimes-gay not-mom doesn't even rate a raised eyebrow. An aspiring astronomer, she believes in disciplined rationalism, which makes her decision to run away to the Olympic Peninsula extra surprising. Once there, she's in unfamiliar territory, falling in love with an alluring girl, dredging up unexpected emotions about her mother, and trying to sort out her feelings for Shane, her transsexual best friend back home. As in other books in the trilogy, McCarry inflects the Pacific Northwest setting with Greek mythology, weaving ancient magic throughout Tally's story and adding an enchanting dose of magic realism. Tally's imagistic, melodic narrative roils with urgent emotion, and readers who loved the first two installments in the series will be richly rewarded by this series ender.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2015 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up-The conclusion to the "Metamorphoses" trilogy (St. Martin's) follows Tally to a small town outside of Seattle where she seeks out her maybe-father to learn more about her past and her family. The place feels full of magic and people who intrigue her. Tally has a hard time thinking straight here, and her dreams are filled with vivid and terrifying images of blood. She falls for the mysterious Maddy, a girl who seems to hold the answers to her many questions. Based loosely on the story of Jason and the Argonauts, the protagonist's journey reveals far more about her family than she could have imagined. Maddy keeps saying "no pasts," but as Tally learns, the past is everywhere-the past is then and now. The stunning, densely packed story is full of as much intoxicating poetry as meticulous scientific explanations. Tally's initial prim and rather academic narration becomes richer and more dreamlike as her story unfolds. This edgy, smart, and challenging title combines mythology, punk rock, science, a quest, feminism, art, dreams, and the power of stories and storytelling with unforgettable results. The well-developed cast of characters is racially and sexually diverse. The emphasis on the importance of female relationships-as family, as lovers, and as friends-is a welcome exploration of the many levels of intimacy. The book can be read as a stand-alone, but will certainly send new readers looking for the previous books in the series. VERDICT A highly recommended and breathtakingly read for sophisticated readers.-Amanda MacGregor, formerly at Apollo High School Library, St. Cloud, MN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Tally, the scientist daughter of now-vanished Aurora from All Our Pretty Songs (2013), leaves her cozy New York home in search of blood family. Just before her 18th birthday, Tally's best friend, Shane, delights and then devastates her by sleeping with her, then seeming to ignore her. A rationalistunlike the sage-smudging, herb-sprinkling family who raised herTally is disgusted by her feelings. Visiting her neighbor Mr. M., she sees her mother's face in an old picture of musician Jack Blake and begins to wonder if Jack is her father. Tally's decision to travel to Jack's remote Pacific Northwest town without making advance plans or warning anyone that she is leaving is almost joltingly sudden. Her arrival, however, plunges readers into a lush and sometimes-spooky small-town setting, a place haunted by the bloodiest figures of Greek mythology, where the present is supernaturally easy to forget. Although Tally means to get answers, she is quickly drawn into an all-consuming affair with Maddy, a larger-than-life woman she meets at the town's only bar. Some plot elements, like Mr. M.'s almost-literal deus ex machina and the smooth resolution with Shane, feel hasty, but Tally's growth throughout is palpable, and the languagewhether describing sex or music or nightmaresis breathtaking. Fluid and aching, with a diverse cast and rich worldbuilding. (Urban fantasy. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.