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Bad Tickets
She's left her good Catholic girl ways behind . . . mostly. It is 1967, the Summer of Love, and Mary Margaret Hallinan has that itchy, squirmy feeling that there must be something more out there for her. Her new best friend, the glamorous Jane, says that boys are the ticket to a spectacular future. Her ex-best friend Elizabeth is sure she's going to hell. "Say yes!" commands Jane, and Mary Margaret has tried to follow her c'mon-it'll-be-fabulous friend into the psychedelic swirl. But can she fit any of her old self to this new life she's trying on?
This is it, this is gonna be the summer. Mary Margaret Hallinan, former good Catholic girl, is clutching her ticket.
Friendship, faith, family, feminism, and 1960s counterculture all contribute to the heartfelt, thoughtful pages of Bad Tickets.
This is it, this is gonna be the summer. Mary Margaret Hallinan, former good Catholic girl, is clutching her ticket.
Friendship, faith, family, feminism, and 1960s counterculture all contribute to the heartfelt, thoughtful pages of Bad Tickets.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published April 10, 2007
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135 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 4, 2021
I've never read a coming of age novel set in the 60's, and now I'm hooked. An overall rating that middling doesn't inspire much confidence, but I think it's just the curse of a forgotten book (they all can't have a mass of Maas fans). This follows Mary Margaret and her journey into not only self-discovery, but realizing how dangerous it is as a woman to look for fulfilment through people, not just romantic partners. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Pros
-Right place, right time
*The 60's, namely the late 60's, were a tumultuous time for most, but especially for the teens/young adults: men were dodging the draft, and women were learning the advantages of feminism that their mothers never had. Suburbia, once an all encompassing American Dream, is now the stuff of nightmares, a prison painted pretty with a picket fence. This makes the perfect
backdrop for Mary Margaret's bleak observations on her mother, father, and all those neighbors with their last names hand painted on mailboxes. They were no longer cute. They posed a series of questions about how she was going to escape their fate of being forced to bear the children who would paint said mailbox.
-Never meet your heroes
*Jane (Mary's Margaret's BFF) is a wild child extraordinaire. Mary Margaret is captivated by her brazen replacing The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with The Beatles names during their Catholic school's morning mass. Soon, Mary Margaret herself is Bogarting beatnik joints at a Rainbow House party and dressing to the nines beyond her comfort zone. Jane is a free spirit, a different brand of woman... or so she claims. Mary Margaret learns Jane's not black and white: she longs for a family, to be loved and wanted by a man because her father's suicide left a hole in her heart. And unfortunately, she turned out to be all talk. She meets a guy named Donnie. Donnie is a dangerous new guy: the pseudo-enlightened guy. The one who says "you can ask me anything you want", an open nature most men who became husbands and fathers in the 50's lack, with the caveat of "but extend the same courtesy when it comes to my answering it". It's sad irony that Jane often warned Mary Margaret about the dangers of giving into Mitch (namely getting trapped into a barrage of babies/marriage) a very honest guy she's been crushing on since way back when. Jane then proceeds to drop out of school and marry Donnie at seventeen not out of love, but because her pregnancy ensures he'll avoid the draft and she believes their marriage will be "different than all those who came before". Who are you trying to convince, Jane? Mary Margaret or yourself? Kind of akin to Valley of Dolls character fates: they all came to what they fled from. Much as it pained me to see them separate, Mary Margaret needed to learn pedestals are dangerous places to put people.
-The ending
*Jumping ahead, but it was the reverse of The Graduate: Mary Margaret leaves Jane's wedding, alone, waiting at the bus station but she's not staring into the deep abyss, wondering what to do next. She knows that unlike Jane, this part of life, that squishy roots before branches bit everyone feels at sixteen/seventeen is just that; one part of her life. She's not her mother, she's not Jane, nor is she some holy saint. She's closer to free.
-Parents are people too
*From the get go, we're given insight into Mary Margaret's strained relationship with her mother (her parents were forced to marry because Mary Margaret was born eight months after their wedding). How she hates her mom for making her feel strange for wanting more than a house full of kids and a domestically incompetent husband, and worse yet, how her mother continues having children although she can't seem to stand the ones she's got. Later, when Mary Margaret and her mom finally have it out, we come to understand that it's not that she wants to limit Mary Margaret, but that she's unsure of how to push her forward. Women in her time were taught that having children and being married were expected. And no one told her how every day wasn't to be roses. And for her, it's been nothing but thorns. However, it's all she's known/been told to do. No one admits to having a bad day; just fix your make-up, sit still, look pretty. It's clear there's some envy in that Mary Margaret's got more choices/drive, but I personally pity this woman who sees cigarettes as escapism and would rather feed her family cheap cuts of meat than cut out a nasty habit to save money.
-Writing style
*My goodness, was it authentic! It's like reading the diary of an actual teen girl. Some of the angsty attitude borders on cringey (who hasn't cringed while looking back on stuff they did/believed as adolescents?),but the euphoria of youth is raw and palpable. From Mary Margaret's first kiss, party, or being in a car driven by someone other than a parent; it's just so real.
-Notion of a "bad ticket"
*A "bad ticket" is what Jane refers to as a boy who'll lead you nowhere fast (i.e. Mary Margret's father). She urges Mary Margaret to strive for a "good ticket". Interestingly Jane herself is a good and bad ticket: for Donnie, she's both (her pregnancy ensures he's free from Vietnam, but at their wedding, he attempts to shake her grip, seeming to mean he's uncomfortable with his newfound tether). And while she was almost a bad ticket for Mary Margaret, she did push her to be somewhere/someone else. Someone better.
-My So-Called Life-lite
*Jane's campaign of "Say Yes!" to any sense of rebellion reminded me of the opening credits of this 90's show, My So-Called Life. This show had formerly good girl Angela becoming decidedly more daring under the wing of her bad girl, Rayanne. In the credits, we hear Rayanne whisper to Angela "Go! Go Now!" before the two race into the crowded street. It just felt so perfect to reference here.
-Mitch and Mary Margaret's honesty
*These two are kindred spirits and Mitch is a cinnamon roll! They're both products of suburban unrest, and in an effort to deviate from their parents' mistakes, have an open discussion about what they want to be to each other, essentially friends with benefits, but it's the 60's, so call it free love. Although, they both soon realize they want more than casual fun, and while Mitch does drop the "L" word first, he lets Mary Margaret take time to discover what he means to her.
This story is timeless. Though society still considers me to be young, I'm not immune to remembering falling for those people who talked a big game only to have the playing field be empty.
Pros
-Right place, right time
*The 60's, namely the late 60's, were a tumultuous time for most, but especially for the teens/young adults: men were dodging the draft, and women were learning the advantages of feminism that their mothers never had. Suburbia, once an all encompassing American Dream, is now the stuff of nightmares, a prison painted pretty with a picket fence. This makes the perfect
backdrop for Mary Margaret's bleak observations on her mother, father, and all those neighbors with their last names hand painted on mailboxes. They were no longer cute. They posed a series of questions about how she was going to escape their fate of being forced to bear the children who would paint said mailbox.
-Never meet your heroes
*Jane (Mary's Margaret's BFF) is a wild child extraordinaire. Mary Margaret is captivated by her brazen replacing The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with The Beatles names during their Catholic school's morning mass. Soon, Mary Margaret herself is Bogarting beatnik joints at a Rainbow House party and dressing to the nines beyond her comfort zone. Jane is a free spirit, a different brand of woman... or so she claims. Mary Margaret learns Jane's not black and white: she longs for a family, to be loved and wanted by a man because her father's suicide left a hole in her heart. And unfortunately, she turned out to be all talk. She meets a guy named Donnie. Donnie is a dangerous new guy: the pseudo-enlightened guy. The one who says "you can ask me anything you want", an open nature most men who became husbands and fathers in the 50's lack, with the caveat of "but extend the same courtesy when it comes to my answering it". It's sad irony that Jane often warned Mary Margaret about the dangers of giving into Mitch (namely getting trapped into a barrage of babies/marriage) a very honest guy she's been crushing on since way back when. Jane then proceeds to drop out of school and marry Donnie at seventeen not out of love, but because her pregnancy ensures he'll avoid the draft and she believes their marriage will be "different than all those who came before". Who are you trying to convince, Jane? Mary Margaret or yourself? Kind of akin to Valley of Dolls character fates: they all came to what they fled from. Much as it pained me to see them separate, Mary Margaret needed to learn pedestals are dangerous places to put people.
-The ending
*Jumping ahead, but it was the reverse of The Graduate: Mary Margaret leaves Jane's wedding, alone, waiting at the bus station but she's not staring into the deep abyss, wondering what to do next. She knows that unlike Jane, this part of life, that squishy roots before branches bit everyone feels at sixteen/seventeen is just that; one part of her life. She's not her mother, she's not Jane, nor is she some holy saint. She's closer to free.
-Parents are people too
*From the get go, we're given insight into Mary Margaret's strained relationship with her mother (her parents were forced to marry because Mary Margaret was born eight months after their wedding). How she hates her mom for making her feel strange for wanting more than a house full of kids and a domestically incompetent husband, and worse yet, how her mother continues having children although she can't seem to stand the ones she's got. Later, when Mary Margaret and her mom finally have it out, we come to understand that it's not that she wants to limit Mary Margaret, but that she's unsure of how to push her forward. Women in her time were taught that having children and being married were expected. And no one told her how every day wasn't to be roses. And for her, it's been nothing but thorns. However, it's all she's known/been told to do. No one admits to having a bad day; just fix your make-up, sit still, look pretty. It's clear there's some envy in that Mary Margaret's got more choices/drive, but I personally pity this woman who sees cigarettes as escapism and would rather feed her family cheap cuts of meat than cut out a nasty habit to save money.
-Writing style
*My goodness, was it authentic! It's like reading the diary of an actual teen girl. Some of the angsty attitude borders on cringey (who hasn't cringed while looking back on stuff they did/believed as adolescents?),but the euphoria of youth is raw and palpable. From Mary Margaret's first kiss, party, or being in a car driven by someone other than a parent; it's just so real.
-Notion of a "bad ticket"
*A "bad ticket" is what Jane refers to as a boy who'll lead you nowhere fast (i.e. Mary Margret's father). She urges Mary Margaret to strive for a "good ticket". Interestingly Jane herself is a good and bad ticket: for Donnie, she's both (her pregnancy ensures he's free from Vietnam, but at their wedding, he attempts to shake her grip, seeming to mean he's uncomfortable with his newfound tether). And while she was almost a bad ticket for Mary Margaret, she did push her to be somewhere/someone else. Someone better.
-My So-Called Life-lite
*Jane's campaign of "Say Yes!" to any sense of rebellion reminded me of the opening credits of this 90's show, My So-Called Life. This show had formerly good girl Angela becoming decidedly more daring under the wing of her bad girl, Rayanne. In the credits, we hear Rayanne whisper to Angela "Go! Go Now!" before the two race into the crowded street. It just felt so perfect to reference here.
-Mitch and Mary Margaret's honesty
*These two are kindred spirits and Mitch is a cinnamon roll! They're both products of suburban unrest, and in an effort to deviate from their parents' mistakes, have an open discussion about what they want to be to each other, essentially friends with benefits, but it's the 60's, so call it free love. Although, they both soon realize they want more than casual fun, and while Mitch does drop the "L" word first, he lets Mary Margaret take time to discover what he means to her.
This story is timeless. Though society still considers me to be young, I'm not immune to remembering falling for those people who talked a big game only to have the playing field be empty.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2012
Reviewed by Michaela Pallante aka "Mickey" for TeensReadToo.com
Mary Margaret Hallinan is not sure of much but she is sure of one thing: she does not want to end up like her mother.
Her mother (who Mary Margaret thinks is slightly mental) has four children and spends her days being very unhappy, ironing shirts for her father -- who has clearly turned out to be a bad ticket. At least that's what Mary Margaret's new best friend, Jane, would call him.
Jane is fun, fearless, and adventurous. Everything that Mary Margaret is not. Mary Margaret is trying to leave her good girl Catholic ways behind her (well, maybe not completely) and get on track to a fabulous future.
Set in 1967, the Summer of Love, it's the perfect time for Mary Margaret to do a little soul searching. With Jane by her side, Mary Margaret meets all kinds of people (cute boys!) and has some awesome yet dangerous adventures. By the end of the summer she has found one of the hardest things to find -- herself.
BAD TICKETS was awesome and I suggest it to anyone who is a fan of the 60's. It will leave you changed somehow and thinking about what life and love are really all about.
Mary Margaret Hallinan is not sure of much but she is sure of one thing: she does not want to end up like her mother.
Her mother (who Mary Margaret thinks is slightly mental) has four children and spends her days being very unhappy, ironing shirts for her father -- who has clearly turned out to be a bad ticket. At least that's what Mary Margaret's new best friend, Jane, would call him.
Jane is fun, fearless, and adventurous. Everything that Mary Margaret is not. Mary Margaret is trying to leave her good girl Catholic ways behind her (well, maybe not completely) and get on track to a fabulous future.
Set in 1967, the Summer of Love, it's the perfect time for Mary Margaret to do a little soul searching. With Jane by her side, Mary Margaret meets all kinds of people (cute boys!) and has some awesome yet dangerous adventures. By the end of the summer she has found one of the hardest things to find -- herself.
BAD TICKETS was awesome and I suggest it to anyone who is a fan of the 60's. It will leave you changed somehow and thinking about what life and love are really all about.
July 20, 2012
This is a 60s novel that would never have been written in the 60s. At least, not in a book marketed towards teens. Surprisingly, it manages to brilliant in spite of itself - it really captured the rebellious feeling of the end of the decade for me. I really, really want it to have a sequel - even though you can see where Jane's story is heading, I'd love to read about the details, and see what Mary Margaret does as well. Also, needs more Elizabeth!
February 16, 2008
This book grew on me the more I read it. Two friends in a Catholic school are rebelling against the strictures of 50's America. It's 1967 and women can think for themselves, but wise choices still must be made. The setting isn't all that important, because it speaks to all teen who are rebelling, but the times were 'achanging and it mirrored nicely what was going on in the story.
December 30, 2008
While the Mary Margaret in the book is not exactly my sister Mary Margaret and we went to Catholic school in Milwaukee rather than Portland, this book brought back so much of that era when we first began questioning. Causing me to enjoy it more than the book was actually well written. I think she got the era dead on.
November 2, 2010
i never read the beginning, i was skimming through it and started reading on page 120, i finished the rest of it.u will never believe what happens in this book. mary has went through alot of things in this book.finding herself, breakin hrough her shell and much more(my opinion from where I started reading.)this book is...WOW!!!
April 6, 2008
Very interesting , with drama and emotions very fun to read.
Read
September 28, 2010Ages 12+ During the Summer of Love in suburban Oregon, good catholic girl Mary Margaret finds her own Rayanne Graff in Jane, and first boyfriend in Mitch. Recommend to those who enjoy Go Ask Alice.
October 1, 2011
Good coming of age story, with 60s backdrop. I skimmed some, but read most of it.
November 17, 2013
This novel takes place in 1967. Coming of age of two girls.
Some details are good. OK.
Story about boys, religion, Virgin Mary and trying new things outside of your comfort zone.
Teen novel.
Some details are good. OK.
Story about boys, religion, Virgin Mary and trying new things outside of your comfort zone.
Teen novel.
January 27, 2014
Pretty good. Not outstanding. I like how she captured the era, and Mary Margaret's relationship with Mitch.
February 21, 2009
sad and funny/read it all the way through.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews