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Summary
Summary
Flora Goldwasser has fallen in love. She won't admit it to anyone, but something about Elijah Huck has pulled her under. When he tells her about the hippie Quaker school he attended in the Hudson Valley called Quare Academy, where he'll be teaching next year, Flora gives up her tony upper east side prep school for a life on a farm, hoping to woo him. A fish out of water, Flora stands out like a sore thumb in her vintage suits among the tattered tunics and ripped jeans of the rest of the student body. When Elijah doesn't show up, Flora must make the most of the situation and will ultimately learn more about herself than she ever thought possible.
Told in a series of letters, emails, journal entries and various ephemera, Jenny Fran Davis's Everything Must Go lays out Flora's dramatic first year for all to see, embarrassing moments and all.
Author Notes
Jenny Fran Davis was born in Manhattan and spent four months avoiding (but later embracing) millet mountains in a peace- and justice-focused Quaker community in northern California. Fond of big dogs, doo-wop, and Judy Blume, she attended the Chapin School and is currently an undergraduate at Wesleyan University. Everything Must Go is her debut novel.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Vintage-fashion queen Flora Goldwasser falls hard and fast for her private-school tutor, photographer Elijah. After agreeing to do some modeling for him in some of her best 1950s outfits (always with her face concealed), she becomes an online fashion sensation as "Miss Tulip." On a whim, Flora quits her exclusive New York City private school to attend the Quaker "upstate-New-York-hippie-school" where Elijah will be teaching the following year. But he doesn't show up, and Flora is stuck at the Quare Academy, which promotes organic lifestyles and discourages "shell-speak" (comments about a person's appearance). Flora struggles to retain her fashion edge in a world of "tattered tunics," unshaven legs, and kale, and along the way manages to create her own brand of activism. Written through text messages, blog posts, letters, journal entries, and more, Davis's smart and witty debut captures a girl's changing attitude and gradual acclimation to a very different environment. Filled with vibrant characters, it balances gentle jabs at pop culture and self-righteousness with thought-provoking ideas about feminist ideals and human frailties. Ages 14-up. Agent: Miriam Altshuler, Defiore and Company. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
College freshman Flora Goldwasser compiles journal entries, magazine clippings, blogs, and other documents to help explain why, at age sixteen, she left Manhattan for "an alternative boarding school" in upstate New York to impress her older male history tutor. Throughout the narrative, smart, snarky Flora perceptively explores issues of class, gender, sexuality, fashion, art, and more. The effect is kitchen-sink-y but entertaining. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
When Flora meets Elijah, her fashion-forward and feminist photography tutor, she is inspired to leave her Manhattan prep school for Quare, an alternative Quaker boarding school that Elijah attended in upstate New York. When Elijah doesn't return to Quare as planned, Flora is on her own and in culture shock in an eco-obsessed community that fosters open-mindedness and creativity. What seems like a hopeless decision at first turns out to be exactly what Flora needs to produce her best work yet: a hybrid performance art piece and stage play that garners national attention. As she lets down her walls and embraces the Quare community, Flora gains meaningful friendships and self-acceptance. The non-narrative format consisting of letters, e-mails, and journal entries is far from unique in contemporary YA, but what could have been an unremarkable love story is instead an introspective, feminist, nuanced story that is difficult to place in any one box. This standout debut is as empowering for readers as it is for its protagonist.--Kling, Caitlin Copyright 2017 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Flora Goldwasser creates a diary that speaks to readers directly, recounting the tale of how her brief relationship with an older man (a college-age tutor) not only turned her into a social media darling but also into the kind of lovesick teenager who would move to his alma mater because she thought it would bring him back to her. Flora poses for Elijah, never dreaming that her devotion to and knowledge of vintage fashion will bring her a cult following. Flora remains loyal to Elijah long after she starts her junior year at Quare, an exclusive school with only 16 students per year. Quare cultivates an environment that is intended to encourage student inclusivity; this includes shunning any discussion of privilege or "shell speak" about superficial looks or things that cannot be changed. Flora initially struggles to fit in given her feelings and propensity toward fashion and material goods. She slowly begins to make a place in Guild, the school's drama group, where she is able to turn her anger into a project for school when Elijah leaves her the day after they have sex. Her friendships, both new and old, and her strong ties with her family are well-portrayed. Told via letters, emails, and journal entries, this book insightfully handles a problematic relationship and presents a flawed, intelligent, and well-crafted protagonist. VERDICT A good choice for -public and high school libraries.-Betsy Fraser, -Calgary Public -Library, Canada © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Flora, a "white, wealthy, and able-bodied" Manhattanite fashionista, hoped to win her tutor's affections by attending the rural, Quaker-run boarding school that's his alma mater during her junior year of high school.Now, three years later, she uses archived documents including journal entries, emails, and press clippings so readers see "the story happen in just the way it happened, in all its urgency and all its absurdity." She details her rocky adjustment to a school that includes all the expected stereotypes: gradeless classrooms, rustic accommodations, and vegan cafeteria options. Avoiding commentary on personal appearances, or "shell speak," is especially difficult for Flora. And the sense that she's merely playing a role leads to feelings of social isolation. But after her tutor "fucks and ducks" on Flora, the school's artistic opportunities facilitate her examination of whether "baseless love, this love that doesn't have to be earned" exists or whether even consensual sexual acts are transactional in nature. Fittingly, Flora doesn't necessarily reach an answer, though her wryly inserted modern commentary on her younger self indicates that present-day Flora continues exploring ideas on appearance and social interactions. The core of Flora's journey presents opportunities for readers to grapple with gender, sex, race, classismeven Marxismalthough detailed explorations of all those complicated topics are too much for a single narrative. Thoughtful and provocative, if a tad overstuffed. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
