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The Year of Needy Girls
Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, Lesbian Fiction! "Recalls both Hellman's The Children's Hour and Lehane's Mystic River in a story about murder and false accusations."
-- Bay Area Reporter "A tense story about a small town swept up in bigotry and paranoia after the brutal murder of a local boy sends the residents into a frenzied witch hunt...Smith's crisp prose and dedication to realistic moral ambiguity make for a provoking read."
-- Publishers Weekly "Smith's first novel successfully builds tension and a sense of dread among the picture-perfect New England fall."
-- Library Journal XPress Reviews "Smith shows us the power of fiction to fully describe the internal and external forces that set the scene for unfounded accusations...Smith deftly builds tension...Smith shows us both the damage that will be ongoing and the revelations and growth that can arise out of ugly times. This is something to remember for the times ahead."
-- Lambda Literary "Smith conveys the impact of this prejudicial hostility on two young women who are struggling to make their way in an intolerant world with a tender and delicate understanding in this nuanced tale of identity and misperception, connection and alienation."
-- Booklist Online "Well-written. The dynamics between the lesbian couple are quite compelling. Smith takes on several important issues, such as classism, racism, and bigotry."
-- The Gay and Lesbian Review "Throughout the novel, Smith peels back layers from relationships. Weaving throughout the story like twin strands of a braid are secrets and the eventual harm brought about by their revelation--prejudices exposed and lies told by loved ones uncovered. From a landscape peopled with supportive neighbors, coworkers and lovers of all types, Smith erases the certainty underlying characters' beliefs and sets them tumbling into chaos. The Year of Needy Girls is an intelligent and captivating read that will spur readers to question their own truths."
-- VA Living Magazine Included in BookRiot 's list of 9 Small Press Books to Read in January 2017! "This well crafted novel stands out for a number of reasons--the nuanced descriptions of the characters' complex feelings, the realistic portrayal of how quickly a person's life and a community can fall into crisis, and the focus on two lesbians and the challenges they face."
-- World Wide Work "A recommended novel that explores small town bigotry."
-- She Treads Softly "A tale of persecution where it shouldn't have happened...There are many people you can't trust. And it's hard to tell."
-- Journey of a Bookseller A young boy's murder unleashes chaos in the life of a schoolteacher and a small New England town. Bradley, Massachusetts is in many ways a typical small New England town, but a river divides it in half--on one side, the East crowded triple-deckers, the Most Precious Blood parish, and a Brazilian immigrant community; and on the other, the West renovated Victorians, Brandywine Academy, and families with last names as venerable as the Mayflower. Deirdre Murphy and her partner Sara Jane (SJ) Edmonds have just moved to their first house--and for the first time are open in their relationship--in the West End, where Deirdre teaches at Brandywine Academy. A dedicated teacher from a working-class background, she is well loved by her students. But the murder of ten-year-old Leo Rivera from the East End changes everything--for Deirdre and SJ, for the girls at Brandywine, and for all of Bradley. And when Deirdre is falsely accused of sexually molesting one of her students, the entire town erupts.
-- Bay Area Reporter "A tense story about a small town swept up in bigotry and paranoia after the brutal murder of a local boy sends the residents into a frenzied witch hunt...Smith's crisp prose and dedication to realistic moral ambiguity make for a provoking read."
-- Publishers Weekly "Smith's first novel successfully builds tension and a sense of dread among the picture-perfect New England fall."
-- Library Journal XPress Reviews "Smith shows us the power of fiction to fully describe the internal and external forces that set the scene for unfounded accusations...Smith deftly builds tension...Smith shows us both the damage that will be ongoing and the revelations and growth that can arise out of ugly times. This is something to remember for the times ahead."
-- Lambda Literary "Smith conveys the impact of this prejudicial hostility on two young women who are struggling to make their way in an intolerant world with a tender and delicate understanding in this nuanced tale of identity and misperception, connection and alienation."
-- Booklist Online "Well-written. The dynamics between the lesbian couple are quite compelling. Smith takes on several important issues, such as classism, racism, and bigotry."
-- The Gay and Lesbian Review "Throughout the novel, Smith peels back layers from relationships. Weaving throughout the story like twin strands of a braid are secrets and the eventual harm brought about by their revelation--prejudices exposed and lies told by loved ones uncovered. From a landscape peopled with supportive neighbors, coworkers and lovers of all types, Smith erases the certainty underlying characters' beliefs and sets them tumbling into chaos. The Year of Needy Girls is an intelligent and captivating read that will spur readers to question their own truths."
-- VA Living Magazine Included in BookRiot 's list of 9 Small Press Books to Read in January 2017! "This well crafted novel stands out for a number of reasons--the nuanced descriptions of the characters' complex feelings, the realistic portrayal of how quickly a person's life and a community can fall into crisis, and the focus on two lesbians and the challenges they face."
-- World Wide Work "A recommended novel that explores small town bigotry."
-- She Treads Softly "A tale of persecution where it shouldn't have happened...There are many people you can't trust. And it's hard to tell."
-- Journey of a Bookseller A young boy's murder unleashes chaos in the life of a schoolteacher and a small New England town. Bradley, Massachusetts is in many ways a typical small New England town, but a river divides it in half--on one side, the East crowded triple-deckers, the Most Precious Blood parish, and a Brazilian immigrant community; and on the other, the West renovated Victorians, Brandywine Academy, and families with last names as venerable as the Mayflower. Deirdre Murphy and her partner Sara Jane (SJ) Edmonds have just moved to their first house--and for the first time are open in their relationship--in the West End, where Deirdre teaches at Brandywine Academy. A dedicated teacher from a working-class background, she is well loved by her students. But the murder of ten-year-old Leo Rivera from the East End changes everything--for Deirdre and SJ, for the girls at Brandywine, and for all of Bradley. And when Deirdre is falsely accused of sexually molesting one of her students, the entire town erupts.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2017
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January 3, 2017
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
I'm usually a big fan of Brooklyn-based Akashic Books, and have enjoyed nearly every novel they've sent us over the last half-decade of our relationship with them; and that's what made it a much bigger surprise than normal to read their latest, The Year of Needy Girls by New England author Patricia A. Smith (not to be confused with New England slam poet Patricia Smith), and realize that it's only a mediocre book at best, 300 pages of wasted potential from a premise that really held promise. That premise revolves around a child molestation charge between a high-school teacher and one of her students; but the twist here is that the teacher is a lesbian and the student in question is a teenage girl, which combined with the provocative title could've given us a rich milieu to examine the slippery line between female friendship and female sexuality, especially among impressionable and emotionally charged young women who are in the middle of imperfectly defining that line for themselves.
The problem, though, is that Smith never delivers on this promise, turning in a book that will be disappointing to any fan of quickly-plotted crime thrillers -- the few developments that actually happen in the case are entirely expected and take the entire length of the book to take place, when the typical crime novelist would be through them all by the end of act one -- yet it's unsatisfying as a deep character study as well, the other direction one might go with a story like this, precisely because the characters aren't interesting or complicated enough to hold up an entire full-length novel by themselves; our put-upon hero Deirdre is kind of wishy-washy, displays no dark pockets of her personality, and is monomaniacal about her career (plus, although not technically guilty of the molestation charges brought against her, is definitely guilty of deliberately putting herself in that kind of compromising position in the first place, in the spirit of "teachers who inappropriately get wrapped up in the personal lives of their students too much," making it difficult to root for her when she could've so easily avoided the situation in the first place), while her lesbian partner is so non-defined as a character that the author has to make up a distracting sensationalist B-story just to give her something to do. (To be specific, a child murder that happens an entire year before our story begins, which has nothing to do with the main story and affects it not even in the slightest way, despite it being touted as a major plot development in the book's dust-jacket synopsis.)
Now add the fact that most of the tension in this book cheaply relies on the citizens of this upper-class liberal New England town reacting with the histrionics of a 1950s moral-panic film to the mere idea of a lesbian being a high-school teacher, an idea that Smith maybe could've gotten away with if setting this story in the actual 1950s, but that rings false and hollow here when set in the 2010s, a lazy excuse to add conflict and stakes to a story that hasn't earned it on its own; and you're left with a novel that will be satisfying neither to crime fans nor those looking for a good LGBT story. It's still getting a decent score from me today, because it's at least well-written; but it's not a book I recommend going out of your way to read, which is sadly the first time in my entire history of reviewing Akashic books that I've had to say that.
Out of 10: 7.0
I'm usually a big fan of Brooklyn-based Akashic Books, and have enjoyed nearly every novel they've sent us over the last half-decade of our relationship with them; and that's what made it a much bigger surprise than normal to read their latest, The Year of Needy Girls by New England author Patricia A. Smith (not to be confused with New England slam poet Patricia Smith), and realize that it's only a mediocre book at best, 300 pages of wasted potential from a premise that really held promise. That premise revolves around a child molestation charge between a high-school teacher and one of her students; but the twist here is that the teacher is a lesbian and the student in question is a teenage girl, which combined with the provocative title could've given us a rich milieu to examine the slippery line between female friendship and female sexuality, especially among impressionable and emotionally charged young women who are in the middle of imperfectly defining that line for themselves.
The problem, though, is that Smith never delivers on this promise, turning in a book that will be disappointing to any fan of quickly-plotted crime thrillers -- the few developments that actually happen in the case are entirely expected and take the entire length of the book to take place, when the typical crime novelist would be through them all by the end of act one -- yet it's unsatisfying as a deep character study as well, the other direction one might go with a story like this, precisely because the characters aren't interesting or complicated enough to hold up an entire full-length novel by themselves; our put-upon hero Deirdre is kind of wishy-washy, displays no dark pockets of her personality, and is monomaniacal about her career (plus, although not technically guilty of the molestation charges brought against her, is definitely guilty of deliberately putting herself in that kind of compromising position in the first place, in the spirit of "teachers who inappropriately get wrapped up in the personal lives of their students too much," making it difficult to root for her when she could've so easily avoided the situation in the first place), while her lesbian partner is so non-defined as a character that the author has to make up a distracting sensationalist B-story just to give her something to do. (To be specific, a child murder that happens an entire year before our story begins, which has nothing to do with the main story and affects it not even in the slightest way, despite it being touted as a major plot development in the book's dust-jacket synopsis.)
Now add the fact that most of the tension in this book cheaply relies on the citizens of this upper-class liberal New England town reacting with the histrionics of a 1950s moral-panic film to the mere idea of a lesbian being a high-school teacher, an idea that Smith maybe could've gotten away with if setting this story in the actual 1950s, but that rings false and hollow here when set in the 2010s, a lazy excuse to add conflict and stakes to a story that hasn't earned it on its own; and you're left with a novel that will be satisfying neither to crime fans nor those looking for a good LGBT story. It's still getting a decent score from me today, because it's at least well-written; but it's not a book I recommend going out of your way to read, which is sadly the first time in my entire history of reviewing Akashic books that I've had to say that.
Out of 10: 7.0
March 26, 2017
Rating: 3.0/5.0
The book is the story of a deteriorating relationship of a lesbian couple in a small town. Things get more complicated when a local boy gets raped and killed. One of the girls somehow gets involved with the molestor and the second girl is accused of molesting a girl in the school she is working in as a teacher. Things get complicated, their already fragile relationship gets even worse.
I think the two main characters were complex and well described. Sometimes they were doing some actions without any explanation. Actions that as a reader I might have no understanding to, but that is OK because that is what being a human is. Many times we cannot explain why we do something. The book or its story might sound like a thriller but it is not. It is more a drama fiction. It was interesting to read about this sort of relationship but I would have loved if the connection between the main two characters were somehow more deeper. Many times it felt to me that they were strangers who are living in the same house. Yes, the author gave us some of their past moments but I don't think those moments were enough to imagine they were in a really good terms before things got screwed up.
One thing I don't understand is putting on the book cover the most bizzare and misleading quote out of all quotes. The quote says "This contemporary witch hunt north of Boston is a collision of The Children's Hour and Mystic River"! Witch hunt? even the book cover gives the vibes of a witch hunt but the story has nothing to do about that at all and I cannot even compare it to Mystic River in any way.
The book is good for one time read, could be better though.
Note: I have won a free copy of this book by participating in a giveaway.
The book is the story of a deteriorating relationship of a lesbian couple in a small town. Things get more complicated when a local boy gets raped and killed. One of the girls somehow gets involved with the molestor and the second girl is accused of molesting a girl in the school she is working in as a teacher. Things get complicated, their already fragile relationship gets even worse.
I think the two main characters were complex and well described. Sometimes they were doing some actions without any explanation. Actions that as a reader I might have no understanding to, but that is OK because that is what being a human is. Many times we cannot explain why we do something. The book or its story might sound like a thriller but it is not. It is more a drama fiction. It was interesting to read about this sort of relationship but I would have loved if the connection between the main two characters were somehow more deeper. Many times it felt to me that they were strangers who are living in the same house. Yes, the author gave us some of their past moments but I don't think those moments were enough to imagine they were in a really good terms before things got screwed up.
One thing I don't understand is putting on the book cover the most bizzare and misleading quote out of all quotes. The quote says "This contemporary witch hunt north of Boston is a collision of The Children's Hour and Mystic River"! Witch hunt? even the book cover gives the vibes of a witch hunt but the story has nothing to do about that at all and I cannot even compare it to Mystic River in any way.
The book is good for one time read, could be better though.
Note: I have won a free copy of this book by participating in a giveaway.
April 2, 2017
This rating isn't really the fault of the book. I've realized I have a low tolerance for reading about unhappy/unhealthy relationships, especially when it's the focus of a book. And the bleak, broody feel just wasn't what I was in the mood for.
January 4, 2017
We have an exciting novel to tell you about that has just been published in Akashic’s Kaylie Jones Books imprint. THE YEAR of NEEDY GIRLS by debut novelist, Patricia A. Smith is a 21st century version of the Salem witch trials.
Bradley, Massachusetts, is your typical small New England town. A river divides the East and West sides of town. The East End is made up of poor, crowded triple-deckers, Most Precious Blood Parish and a Brazilian immigrant community. On the West End, a wealthy community, lots of lovely grass lawns and Brandywine Academy for girls.
Deidre Murphy grew up in a working-class neighborhood similar to the East End, but escaped through education and now teaches at Brandywine Academy and lives with her partner, librarian, Sarah Jane (SJ) Edmonds in their first house on the West End. Deidre and SJ are publicly accepted, but are repeatedly made to feel like outsiders because they are gay.
Ten-year old, Leo Rivera from the East End is found dead in horrific circumstances that spook the town. Then a young student takes an opportunity to act out on a crush she has on the much loved and admired, Miss Murphy. Her mother sees them, thinks the worst and suddenly Deidre finds herself the victim of false accusations fueled by homophobia. Everything changes for Deidre, SJ, the girls at Brandywine Academy and all of Bradley.
THE YEAR of NEEDY GIRLS erupts into a tense story about a small town swept up in bigotry and paranoia that sends the residents into a frenzied witch hunt. As Deidre and SJ navigate their personal dramas will their relationship survive? Much of this novel is about fear and Smith is a painter of prose, utilizing her palette of paints, some are laid on thick, others thinned with turpentine, all forming a perfect a landscape. I believe Smith's novel is being published at an extremely relevant time. We must be so aware of our actions, words and motivations, especially at this time when the rules of justice, morality and ethics are under assault.
Patricia A. Smith's nonfiction has appeared in several anthologies including One Teacher in Ten: Gay and Lesbian Educators Tell Their Stories and One Teacher in Ten in the New Millennium: LGBT Educators Speak Out About What's Gotten Better . . . and What Hasn't. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in such places as Salon, Broad Street, Prime Number, and Gris-Gris. The Year of Needy Girls is her first novel. A native New Englander, Smith now lives in Chester, Virginia, with her partner.
Publisher, Kaylie Jones is the award-winning author of five novels and a memoir. She teaches writing at two MFA programs and lives in New York City. In addition to teaching and writing, she is now editing and publishing a limited number of novels in a boutique relationship with AKASHIC BOOKS.
Bradley, Massachusetts, is your typical small New England town. A river divides the East and West sides of town. The East End is made up of poor, crowded triple-deckers, Most Precious Blood Parish and a Brazilian immigrant community. On the West End, a wealthy community, lots of lovely grass lawns and Brandywine Academy for girls.
Deidre Murphy grew up in a working-class neighborhood similar to the East End, but escaped through education and now teaches at Brandywine Academy and lives with her partner, librarian, Sarah Jane (SJ) Edmonds in their first house on the West End. Deidre and SJ are publicly accepted, but are repeatedly made to feel like outsiders because they are gay.
Ten-year old, Leo Rivera from the East End is found dead in horrific circumstances that spook the town. Then a young student takes an opportunity to act out on a crush she has on the much loved and admired, Miss Murphy. Her mother sees them, thinks the worst and suddenly Deidre finds herself the victim of false accusations fueled by homophobia. Everything changes for Deidre, SJ, the girls at Brandywine Academy and all of Bradley.
THE YEAR of NEEDY GIRLS erupts into a tense story about a small town swept up in bigotry and paranoia that sends the residents into a frenzied witch hunt. As Deidre and SJ navigate their personal dramas will their relationship survive? Much of this novel is about fear and Smith is a painter of prose, utilizing her palette of paints, some are laid on thick, others thinned with turpentine, all forming a perfect a landscape. I believe Smith's novel is being published at an extremely relevant time. We must be so aware of our actions, words and motivations, especially at this time when the rules of justice, morality and ethics are under assault.
Patricia A. Smith's nonfiction has appeared in several anthologies including One Teacher in Ten: Gay and Lesbian Educators Tell Their Stories and One Teacher in Ten in the New Millennium: LGBT Educators Speak Out About What's Gotten Better . . . and What Hasn't. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in such places as Salon, Broad Street, Prime Number, and Gris-Gris. The Year of Needy Girls is her first novel. A native New Englander, Smith now lives in Chester, Virginia, with her partner.
Publisher, Kaylie Jones is the award-winning author of five novels and a memoir. She teaches writing at two MFA programs and lives in New York City. In addition to teaching and writing, she is now editing and publishing a limited number of novels in a boutique relationship with AKASHIC BOOKS.
December 8, 2016
THE YEAR OF NEEDY GIRLS by Patricia A. Smith was sent to me by Akashic Books in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.
I am interested in Akashic Books - a small, independent, high-quality publisher from Brooklyn, New York. I am very impressed with their offerings.
THE YEAR OF NEEDY GIRLS is no exception. The story of a young boy’s abduction and murder in the New England town of Bradley, Massachusetts is a powerful one and is a major plot point. But the book is ‘less’ about the incident and ‘more’ about its repercussions. Fear and suspicion in the small town take their toll, especially on Sara Jane (SJ) Edmonds (local librarian) and Deirdre Murphy (French teacher at ‘posh’ Brandywine Academy). SJ and Deirdre are a lesbian couple and their relationships with their library patrons and young students are highly suspect.
As a former teacher and librarian, I was quite interested in these characters - their personalities, their professionalism (or lack thereof), their backgrounds, and their relationships. I was impressed that the dilemmas Ms. Smith’s characters were immersed in reflect so many current (and age-old) pitfalls of both professions. (Spot-On)
SJ doesn’t want to reveal a patron’s library activities to the police. She wants to ‘help’ and ‘save’ a suspected murderer. Deirdre wants to ‘help’ and ‘save’ her students by being overly friendly, affectionate and supportive.
SJ and Deirdre are the primary ‘needy girls’ in the story. They both seek and need love, admiration, and popularity. Their neediness trumps everything - their relationship, their family ties, their friends and co-workers, their jobs, their professionalism.
They work very hard at their own self-destruction and it is both appalling and fascinating to watch their downward death spiral.
SJ and Deirdre are educated; they have good jobs (that they appear to like and do well at); they buy a house together. They have all the trappings of adulthood. They feel that they are adults. But they do not accept the responsibilities and restrictions of adulthood. Their immaturity leads to their self-destruction.
On p. 312 Deirdre thinks - “It was tricky, this business of being needed.” Amen to that!
Ms. Smith’s writing is assertive. She knows what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. Her words are very descriptive.
The plot is very layered and well-structured. It is a psychological thriller - not in a criminal sense - but in an emotional one. A great book. Highly recommended.
I am interested in Akashic Books - a small, independent, high-quality publisher from Brooklyn, New York. I am very impressed with their offerings.
THE YEAR OF NEEDY GIRLS is no exception. The story of a young boy’s abduction and murder in the New England town of Bradley, Massachusetts is a powerful one and is a major plot point. But the book is ‘less’ about the incident and ‘more’ about its repercussions. Fear and suspicion in the small town take their toll, especially on Sara Jane (SJ) Edmonds (local librarian) and Deirdre Murphy (French teacher at ‘posh’ Brandywine Academy). SJ and Deirdre are a lesbian couple and their relationships with their library patrons and young students are highly suspect.
As a former teacher and librarian, I was quite interested in these characters - their personalities, their professionalism (or lack thereof), their backgrounds, and their relationships. I was impressed that the dilemmas Ms. Smith’s characters were immersed in reflect so many current (and age-old) pitfalls of both professions. (Spot-On)
SJ doesn’t want to reveal a patron’s library activities to the police. She wants to ‘help’ and ‘save’ a suspected murderer. Deirdre wants to ‘help’ and ‘save’ her students by being overly friendly, affectionate and supportive.
SJ and Deirdre are the primary ‘needy girls’ in the story. They both seek and need love, admiration, and popularity. Their neediness trumps everything - their relationship, their family ties, their friends and co-workers, their jobs, their professionalism.
They work very hard at their own self-destruction and it is both appalling and fascinating to watch their downward death spiral.
SJ and Deirdre are educated; they have good jobs (that they appear to like and do well at); they buy a house together. They have all the trappings of adulthood. They feel that they are adults. But they do not accept the responsibilities and restrictions of adulthood. Their immaturity leads to their self-destruction.
On p. 312 Deirdre thinks - “It was tricky, this business of being needed.” Amen to that!
Ms. Smith’s writing is assertive. She knows what she wants to say and how she wants to say it. Her words are very descriptive.
The plot is very layered and well-structured. It is a psychological thriller - not in a criminal sense - but in an emotional one. A great book. Highly recommended.
January 1, 2017
The Year of Needy Girls by Patricia A. Smith is a recommended novel that explores small town bigotry.
Residents of Bradley, a small Massachusetts town, are all on edge when 10 year old Leo Rivera, a kid living on the wrong side of town, is kidnapped. When his body is later found, the paranoia of the whole town seems to escalate, looking for the killer and/or someone to blame for the crime. Deirdre Murphy, a high school French teach at a private girls school, is as concerned as the rest of the town over young Leo's murder, but she continues to find innovative ways to help her students learn French while supporting them. Her partner/girlfriend SJ Edmonds, is a local librarian. Their personal relationship is known to their employers and shouldn't be a problem - that is until the actions of Anna Worthington, a student of Deirdre's. Anna forge's her mother's signature on a permission slip for a class field trip. Then Anna decides to act on her crush and kisses Deirdre, right when Anna's mother is watching.
Deirdre is immediately suspended from her teaching job while the incident is under investigation. At the same time, SJ is thinking of ending their relationship. When Mickey Gilberto, an auto mechanic, is named as Leo's killer, SJ is shocked and doesn't believe it. She had been tutoring Mickey, helping him learn to read. The two events become tied together by the town, resulting in a citywide outbreak of homophobia. Deirdre and SJ are both reeling and unable to support each other.
Smith does a good job presenting how the two separate incidents became enmeshed with each other due to public actions, which, in turn, fueled the outrage as the two cases are investigated. But, there is no real suspense since we know what happened in both cases. It is more a character study and an exploration of the fear Deirdre and SJ are feeling and their mistakes and insecurities. They are the needy girls more than the high school students Deirdre taught.
While well written, this story has been told before in various forms and, perhaps, more successfully in other books. Bigotry can occur in a small town or a city over any one of a large number of issues. Teachers and other professionals, in a misguided attempt to be supportive and help, can neglect to set up boundaries between their students and themselves. Both of these women should have learned the importance of this years before this incident. In other words, why the heck did Deirdre think it was a good idea or acceptable to touch a high school student, if even to rub their back/head to try and be supportive? This applies to any teacher and student. Use your words; talk to them with an acceptable amount of personal space between you. (As a former educator, her personal choices lost me then and there.)
Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of Akashic Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/ on 1/3/17
Residents of Bradley, a small Massachusetts town, are all on edge when 10 year old Leo Rivera, a kid living on the wrong side of town, is kidnapped. When his body is later found, the paranoia of the whole town seems to escalate, looking for the killer and/or someone to blame for the crime. Deirdre Murphy, a high school French teach at a private girls school, is as concerned as the rest of the town over young Leo's murder, but she continues to find innovative ways to help her students learn French while supporting them. Her partner/girlfriend SJ Edmonds, is a local librarian. Their personal relationship is known to their employers and shouldn't be a problem - that is until the actions of Anna Worthington, a student of Deirdre's. Anna forge's her mother's signature on a permission slip for a class field trip. Then Anna decides to act on her crush and kisses Deirdre, right when Anna's mother is watching.
Deirdre is immediately suspended from her teaching job while the incident is under investigation. At the same time, SJ is thinking of ending their relationship. When Mickey Gilberto, an auto mechanic, is named as Leo's killer, SJ is shocked and doesn't believe it. She had been tutoring Mickey, helping him learn to read. The two events become tied together by the town, resulting in a citywide outbreak of homophobia. Deirdre and SJ are both reeling and unable to support each other.
Smith does a good job presenting how the two separate incidents became enmeshed with each other due to public actions, which, in turn, fueled the outrage as the two cases are investigated. But, there is no real suspense since we know what happened in both cases. It is more a character study and an exploration of the fear Deirdre and SJ are feeling and their mistakes and insecurities. They are the needy girls more than the high school students Deirdre taught.
While well written, this story has been told before in various forms and, perhaps, more successfully in other books. Bigotry can occur in a small town or a city over any one of a large number of issues. Teachers and other professionals, in a misguided attempt to be supportive and help, can neglect to set up boundaries between their students and themselves. Both of these women should have learned the importance of this years before this incident. In other words, why the heck did Deirdre think it was a good idea or acceptable to touch a high school student, if even to rub their back/head to try and be supportive? This applies to any teacher and student. Use your words; talk to them with an acceptable amount of personal space between you. (As a former educator, her personal choices lost me then and there.)
Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of Akashic Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/ on 1/3/17
January 3, 2017
The Year of Needy Girls is a novel about bigotry in a small town. After a young boy is kidnapped, raped and killed at the beginning of the book, the idyllic life that the townspeople of Bradley, MA, think they live comes to an end. The death of the boy is a thread throughout the book but there is so much more. SJ, a librarian, and her partner Deirdre, a teacher at a small private school, have just moved into their first house together. At first, they appear very happy together but their lives begin to fall apart. SJ starts to teach a young man how to read even though her partner thought that he was pretty creepy and he is being accused of being the killer of the young boy. Deirdre, a French teacher who always puts the concern of her students first, is accused of trying to molest one of the girls. As the town takes sides, the bigotry that was just below the surface becomes very apparent and sides are taken. The characters are very well drawn - SJ and Deirdre are very well rounded, with their flaws apparent throughout the story. The rest of the town leaders and the girls at the high school are people that we all know and read about every day!
I thought that this was a very well done, very readable book that definitely gives the reader a lot to think about throughout and after the story is done.
Thanks to Goodreads for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I thought that this was a very well done, very readable book that definitely gives the reader a lot to think about throughout and after the story is done.
Thanks to Goodreads for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
November 21, 2020
Deirdre, a teacher at Brandywine Academy in Bradley, Massachusetts is accused of the sexual harassment of one of her female students while police are investigating the murder and sexual assault of a young boy.
As I read this book all I could think was "why does this book exist?" It's nothing but a straight up case of a silly misunderstanding involving a woman who is possibly the world's most idiotic, naive teacher, with a same sex angle thrown in as a novelty and not for any real exploration as to how the fact that Deirdre is gay makes any difference (or not) to the whether what goes on is fair. Both Deirdre and SJ are barely functioning adults and are too stupid and selfish to care about and the murder mystery plot is insulting to the poor fictional victim in that it doesn't even exist for about three-quarters of the book and has almost nothing to do with the rest of the story.
This gets published?
As I read this book all I could think was "why does this book exist?" It's nothing but a straight up case of a silly misunderstanding involving a woman who is possibly the world's most idiotic, naive teacher, with a same sex angle thrown in as a novelty and not for any real exploration as to how the fact that Deirdre is gay makes any difference (or not) to the whether what goes on is fair. Both Deirdre and SJ are barely functioning adults and are too stupid and selfish to care about and the murder mystery plot is insulting to the poor fictional victim in that it doesn't even exist for about three-quarters of the book and has almost nothing to do with the rest of the story.
This gets published?
March 24, 2018
This one had me staying up late to finish the story. Shortly after the horrific murder of a local boy, a teacher at a private girls' school is accused of molesting one of her students. In the meantime, her partner finds herself entangled in the murder investigation, and questioning her own motivations. There's definitely a thriller element, although that didn't go quite in the direction I expected. The couple at the center of the story is imperfect, which is to say human.
February 28, 2017
Deirdre Murphy is a French teacher in an exclusive girls school in Massachusetts. She is a wonderful teacher who goes the extra mile everyday. She attends sporting events in cheer her students on, and tries to make her classes the best she can. She has a partner SJ. SJ is a librarian. Deirdre is seen kissing a student. The student kissed Deirdre and the students mother is on the board of the school. Deirdre is immediately put on paid leave and rumors fly. She actually spent a holiday weekend in jail. There is also a young boy who was missing in the small town who is later found dead. Both events shape the story. This book is very interesting and hard to put down. Highly recommend.
January 4, 2018
I read this book in a couple of marathon reading sessions. The first time, I actually had to force myself to put the book down. I found it to be very well -written. Patricia Smith has such an intimate knowledge of her characters, especially Diedre Murphy. The author's writing style grips you from the first sentence and sucks you in regardless of how annoyed you might be at the actual events unfolding in the story. That is a true gift.
I will confess, throughout most of the book I did not like Diedre very much. She seemed to have poor judgement and definitely had a lack of understanding about boundaries. Without giving anything away in the story, I did come to like her but it took until the final pages for that to happen, even though I felt sorry for her long before that. For me..she was a bit like the friend who constantly asks for advice, then never follows it. If there was a poor decision to make, she almost always made it.
I read a few of the reviews before starting the book and I am somewhat surprised that there was such a struggle to determine the time period in which the story takes place. For me, this was mostly evident in the prologue. The events surrounding the abduction and murder of the fictional character of 10 year old Leo Rivera so closely mirrored the events surrounding the abduction and murder of Jeffrey Curley that it was easy enough to determine the time period as the late nineties. When, later in the story, Leo's body is recovered I was certain of it. The rest of the story seemed to bear that out.
The story takes a different direction than I thought it would based on the title and the blurb on the back of the book. I was sure that it would be about the "neediness" of high school girls, and particularly the type of "neediness" that occurs in teenagers who attend private schools. The story does eventually circle around to that but it becomes so much more than that. It really becomes a statement about the neediness that we all have on some level- the need for approval.
I really like how the author hits on many of the social issues that are still prevalent today, from racism to homophobia to modern day witch hunts and to the overarching problem of "the other" that seems to be even more prevalent today than it was during the time period of the story.
Another issue the author tackles very honestly is the complicated idea of establishing boundaries. This was something that has once again become a conversation in light of today's #MeToo movement regarding sexual assault and inappropriate behavior towards women. The issue of boundaries in this regard can become very complicated...and frankly sad...when people who's career and calling is to nurture have to second guess a hug..or a touch when offered in comfort or support.
I would definitely recommend this book.
I will confess, throughout most of the book I did not like Diedre very much. She seemed to have poor judgement and definitely had a lack of understanding about boundaries. Without giving anything away in the story, I did come to like her but it took until the final pages for that to happen, even though I felt sorry for her long before that. For me..she was a bit like the friend who constantly asks for advice, then never follows it. If there was a poor decision to make, she almost always made it.
I read a few of the reviews before starting the book and I am somewhat surprised that there was such a struggle to determine the time period in which the story takes place. For me, this was mostly evident in the prologue. The events surrounding the abduction and murder of the fictional character of 10 year old Leo Rivera so closely mirrored the events surrounding the abduction and murder of Jeffrey Curley that it was easy enough to determine the time period as the late nineties. When, later in the story, Leo's body is recovered I was certain of it. The rest of the story seemed to bear that out.
The story takes a different direction than I thought it would based on the title and the blurb on the back of the book. I was sure that it would be about the "neediness" of high school girls, and particularly the type of "neediness" that occurs in teenagers who attend private schools. The story does eventually circle around to that but it becomes so much more than that. It really becomes a statement about the neediness that we all have on some level- the need for approval.
I really like how the author hits on many of the social issues that are still prevalent today, from racism to homophobia to modern day witch hunts and to the overarching problem of "the other" that seems to be even more prevalent today than it was during the time period of the story.
Another issue the author tackles very honestly is the complicated idea of establishing boundaries. This was something that has once again become a conversation in light of today's #MeToo movement regarding sexual assault and inappropriate behavior towards women. The issue of boundaries in this regard can become very complicated...and frankly sad...when people who's career and calling is to nurture have to second guess a hug..or a touch when offered in comfort or support.
I would definitely recommend this book.
January 10, 2017
Smith's book is well written and compelling: it pulled me in from the start and successfully kept me away from my real-life responsibilities. The story touches on significant issues--sexual predation, prejudice against the LGBT population, town and gown, the small but insidious things that destroy relationships, and the human need to be needed--and I loved the fact that the protagonists were a lesbian couple, a librarian and a teacher. It's not often that these demographics are featured in novels. On the downside, I found the characterization of Brandywine Academy to be a bit stereotypical, the character of SJ lacking in depth, and the descriptions of fall foliage a tad excessive. Overall, however, this was an extremely enjoyable read, and It demands a sequel!
February 13, 2022
Patricia A. Smith’s debut novel, The Year of Needy Girls, begins with a heinous crime—the abduction of a little boy from a quiet, Northeastern town. As days slip by and the search intensifies without results, the town’s residents view each other with suspicion, wondering if anyone is harboring knowledge of the boy’s whereabouts or if the culprit is one of their own. It is the worst imaginable situation for a community. And it is one that Smith has lived through herself.
In the 1980s, Smith was teaching fifth and sixth grade at a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts when a local boy named Jeffrey Curley was abducted, raped and murdered. Now a teacher at the Appomattox regional governor’s school in Petersburg, she reflects on that harrowing incident. “A lot of my students knew him,” she says. “They had played Little League with him. They were terrified because the man who did this to him was Jeffrey Curley’s next-door neighbor. The kids had always been told, ‘Never get in the car with strangers.’ But he wasn’t a stranger, and that really threw their world upside down.”
Compounding the issue for Smith was the fear that residents might use this incident to rally the hetero-community into a witch-hunt. “For those of us in the LGBTQ community,” she says, “there was a lot of fear because Jeffrey Curley had been raped and he had been sexually molested. But his parents spoke out and said this had nothing to do with being gay. That’s not what’s going on here. He’s a pedophile. It has nothing to do with being homosexual.”
Smith’s novel, set in the fictional town of Bradley, Massachusetts, portrays what might have happened if the devastated town allowed fear of predators to morph into mistrust of homosexuals. The local newspaper runs combative Letters to the Editor about “the hidden threat to all our children” and one woman spearheads a bigoted campaign, saying, “You and I both know that there are gay people in our town—we all have gay neighbors, some of us have gay friends. …But we have to draw the line somewhere. …Homosexuals are not safe for our children.”
The two protagonists, Deirdre and her partner Sara Jane (SJ), both have jobs that regularly put them in contact with children, thus putting them in the crosshairs of the swelling homophobia. Deirdre is a teacher at an all-girl high school called Brandywine Academy, and SJ is a librarian not far from where the boy had been abducted. In the days before the abduction, both women felt at ease in their community. So much so that when a misunderstanding occurs between Deirdre and a student, she confers with a fellow teacher at Brandywine named Forest. “Forest removed his hands from his glass and gestured as he spoke. ‘Come on. Don’t tell me [being gay] isn’t really a choice. Don’t tell me that the right guy…’ Deirdre pushed her chair back from the table, but he grabbed her arm. ‘Look, I don’t give a goddamn, you know that, but hell, you don’t even seem…gay. So what if you do like being part of the oppressed? What’s it to me?’”
Ignorance and intolerance are things Smith has dealt with before. “The People’s Republic of Cambridge is notoriously liberal,” she says with a laugh, “but even there people have their prejudices. When I was teaching, people would say things like, ‘Well, it’s okay if you’re gay as long as you don’t flaunt it to the students.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And they were like, ‘Wearing wedding rings and having pictures of spouses on your desk. That’s what I’m talking about.’ I had a fair amount of experiences like that.”
The two protagonists have intentionally chosen to immerse themselves in environments contrary to their upbringing. SJ grew up the only child of wealthy parents and now works in the bad section of town; Deirdre’s mother eked out an existence after her fisherman husband was lost at sea, and now Deirdre works at a school that caters to rich families. Therefore each woman has hard-earned wisdom that can benefit the other. But when they offer warnings—Deirdre that a man SJ is tutoring at the library seems like trouble; SJ that Deirdre is getting too close to her students—both stubbornly refuse to heed their partner’s advice and plunge into compromising situations at work. The results are calamitous. A student lies about her relationship with Deirdre, putting her job at risk. And, as the missing boy’s body is found and police search for the murderer, their prime suspect happens to be the man SJ was tutoring.
“SJ and Deirdre feel like they can’t be honest with each other,” Smith says. “To some degree both of them, but certainly SJ is harboring a pretty big secret. As I was writing those two characters, I kept thinking about the fact that they weren’t going to make it as a couple because they just didn’t have that ability to be honest with each other. I think honesty is crucial.”
It is delightful to witness the way Smith peels back layers from relationships. Weaving throughout the story like twin strands of a braid are secrets and the eventual harm brought about by their revelation—prejudices outed, white lies told by loved ones uncovered, and long-held truths about oneself finally seen for the thin façade they are. From a landscape peopled with supportive neighbors, coworkers and lovers of all types, Smith erases the certainty underlying characters’ beliefs and sets them tumbling into chaos. The Year of Needy Girls is an intelligent and captivating read that will spur readers to question what truths lie within their own hearts.
In the 1980s, Smith was teaching fifth and sixth grade at a private school in Cambridge, Massachusetts when a local boy named Jeffrey Curley was abducted, raped and murdered. Now a teacher at the Appomattox regional governor’s school in Petersburg, she reflects on that harrowing incident. “A lot of my students knew him,” she says. “They had played Little League with him. They were terrified because the man who did this to him was Jeffrey Curley’s next-door neighbor. The kids had always been told, ‘Never get in the car with strangers.’ But he wasn’t a stranger, and that really threw their world upside down.”
Compounding the issue for Smith was the fear that residents might use this incident to rally the hetero-community into a witch-hunt. “For those of us in the LGBTQ community,” she says, “there was a lot of fear because Jeffrey Curley had been raped and he had been sexually molested. But his parents spoke out and said this had nothing to do with being gay. That’s not what’s going on here. He’s a pedophile. It has nothing to do with being homosexual.”
Smith’s novel, set in the fictional town of Bradley, Massachusetts, portrays what might have happened if the devastated town allowed fear of predators to morph into mistrust of homosexuals. The local newspaper runs combative Letters to the Editor about “the hidden threat to all our children” and one woman spearheads a bigoted campaign, saying, “You and I both know that there are gay people in our town—we all have gay neighbors, some of us have gay friends. …But we have to draw the line somewhere. …Homosexuals are not safe for our children.”
The two protagonists, Deirdre and her partner Sara Jane (SJ), both have jobs that regularly put them in contact with children, thus putting them in the crosshairs of the swelling homophobia. Deirdre is a teacher at an all-girl high school called Brandywine Academy, and SJ is a librarian not far from where the boy had been abducted. In the days before the abduction, both women felt at ease in their community. So much so that when a misunderstanding occurs between Deirdre and a student, she confers with a fellow teacher at Brandywine named Forest. “Forest removed his hands from his glass and gestured as he spoke. ‘Come on. Don’t tell me [being gay] isn’t really a choice. Don’t tell me that the right guy…’ Deirdre pushed her chair back from the table, but he grabbed her arm. ‘Look, I don’t give a goddamn, you know that, but hell, you don’t even seem…gay. So what if you do like being part of the oppressed? What’s it to me?’”
Ignorance and intolerance are things Smith has dealt with before. “The People’s Republic of Cambridge is notoriously liberal,” she says with a laugh, “but even there people have their prejudices. When I was teaching, people would say things like, ‘Well, it’s okay if you’re gay as long as you don’t flaunt it to the students.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And they were like, ‘Wearing wedding rings and having pictures of spouses on your desk. That’s what I’m talking about.’ I had a fair amount of experiences like that.”
The two protagonists have intentionally chosen to immerse themselves in environments contrary to their upbringing. SJ grew up the only child of wealthy parents and now works in the bad section of town; Deirdre’s mother eked out an existence after her fisherman husband was lost at sea, and now Deirdre works at a school that caters to rich families. Therefore each woman has hard-earned wisdom that can benefit the other. But when they offer warnings—Deirdre that a man SJ is tutoring at the library seems like trouble; SJ that Deirdre is getting too close to her students—both stubbornly refuse to heed their partner’s advice and plunge into compromising situations at work. The results are calamitous. A student lies about her relationship with Deirdre, putting her job at risk. And, as the missing boy’s body is found and police search for the murderer, their prime suspect happens to be the man SJ was tutoring.
“SJ and Deirdre feel like they can’t be honest with each other,” Smith says. “To some degree both of them, but certainly SJ is harboring a pretty big secret. As I was writing those two characters, I kept thinking about the fact that they weren’t going to make it as a couple because they just didn’t have that ability to be honest with each other. I think honesty is crucial.”
It is delightful to witness the way Smith peels back layers from relationships. Weaving throughout the story like twin strands of a braid are secrets and the eventual harm brought about by their revelation—prejudices outed, white lies told by loved ones uncovered, and long-held truths about oneself finally seen for the thin façade they are. From a landscape peopled with supportive neighbors, coworkers and lovers of all types, Smith erases the certainty underlying characters’ beliefs and sets them tumbling into chaos. The Year of Needy Girls is an intelligent and captivating read that will spur readers to question what truths lie within their own hearts.
January 6, 2017
Life in a small town, with all its drama and the power of perceptions versus truth. An excellent novel well worth the time to read.
January 9, 2020
The Year of Needy Girls by Patricia Smith was released in 2017 by Akashic Books. The concept is good, a lesbian couple living a small New England town where a horrific murder of a young boy occurs. There are so many ways to build a story around this. Though I was ultimately disappointed, this is a four-star read. There is an audience for this style of writing that will definitely enjoy the book.
This review from Publishers Weekly is a good example of the general theme of the reviews: “A tense story about a small town swept up in bigotry and paranoia after the brutal murder of a local boy sends the residents into a frenzied witch hunt . . . Smith’s crisp prose and dedication to realistic moral ambiguity make for a provoking read.”
Bigotry, paranoia, racism, homophobia, adolescent confusion, and relationship issues are all covered in the story. Frankly, I’m disappointed that I’m disappointed because Smith ties all of these elements together. My dislike for this style of writing is the excess explanation of a situation or what a character is thinking/feeling.
I wasn’t provoked by the story, though I wanted to smack a few of the characters. I also didn’t find much tension. The opening is excellent, leading me to higher expectations for nefariousness, grit, and shock. That didn’t happen. Maybe I’m just numb, or have too much experience, but my tension meter didn’t start ticking until the Town Hall meeting.
All this said, the writing moved along and kept me reading. As a society, we remain facing an uphill battle towards equity, and this story is just one of many tales in this regard.
This review from Publishers Weekly is a good example of the general theme of the reviews: “A tense story about a small town swept up in bigotry and paranoia after the brutal murder of a local boy sends the residents into a frenzied witch hunt . . . Smith’s crisp prose and dedication to realistic moral ambiguity make for a provoking read.”
Bigotry, paranoia, racism, homophobia, adolescent confusion, and relationship issues are all covered in the story. Frankly, I’m disappointed that I’m disappointed because Smith ties all of these elements together. My dislike for this style of writing is the excess explanation of a situation or what a character is thinking/feeling.
I wasn’t provoked by the story, though I wanted to smack a few of the characters. I also didn’t find much tension. The opening is excellent, leading me to higher expectations for nefariousness, grit, and shock. That didn’t happen. Maybe I’m just numb, or have too much experience, but my tension meter didn’t start ticking until the Town Hall meeting.
All this said, the writing moved along and kept me reading. As a society, we remain facing an uphill battle towards equity, and this story is just one of many tales in this regard.
April 14, 2017
I'm not usually a reviewer. I don't come from a education system, where book reviews are a thing. It's been far too long since I wrote anything this long.
I enjoyed this book for its representation. I don't read enough books about older folks in the Lesbian/WLW community. I liked this look at lesbian's who had lived through all the history, which some of us younger ones in the community, are too quick to forget. I liked the little musings on marriage, and picket fences.
From the blurb, I thought we would get more about the Rivera murder. I get it, being used as a framing device. The quiet little town on edge, because of a murdered child, and then losing their heads when an out lesbian teacher is accused of molestation.
But I wanted more.
I wanted to see more of SJ's reaction to the whole thing. She might have been attacked by the town folk, who don't like 'the other'. I admired her for sticking by her partner, but at the same time I would have liked to have seen her thought process. Even if she was one hundred per cent sure of her partner's innocence, doubts might still creep in.
I also wanted something else to do with the Rivera's. From the snippet we got of the Rivera parents, we saw that Mr Riveria seems to do most of the talking. I would have enjoyed seeing Mrs Rivera's opinion on the whole "save our children" thing. Especially, within the wider context of the East Side/West Side thing, and with Mrs. Rivera being from an immigrant community.
Anna felt very one-dimensional. I wanted more from her. I know, that I am closer in age to Anna than Deirdre or SJ, so perhaps I am biased. I wanted to know more about her motivations. I know teenagers can do stuff, just because, or misconstrue things. It just felt a little tidy, for her to send a note, and that be it.
The East Side/West Side thing. I like how it was kinda explored. Especially, within Deirdre who has come from a working-class background.
I still enjoyed it very much. It made me think. It is an important book with the current political climate. So many places could be quick to blame the perceived 'other' when their way of life is threatened.
I enjoyed this book for its representation. I don't read enough books about older folks in the Lesbian/WLW community. I liked this look at lesbian's who had lived through all the history, which some of us younger ones in the community, are too quick to forget. I liked the little musings on marriage, and picket fences.
From the blurb, I thought we would get more about the Rivera murder. I get it, being used as a framing device. The quiet little town on edge, because of a murdered child, and then losing their heads when an out lesbian teacher is accused of molestation.
But I wanted more.
I wanted to see more of SJ's reaction to the whole thing. She might have been attacked by the town folk, who don't like 'the other'. I admired her for sticking by her partner, but at the same time I would have liked to have seen her thought process. Even if she was one hundred per cent sure of her partner's innocence, doubts might still creep in.
I also wanted something else to do with the Rivera's. From the snippet we got of the Rivera parents, we saw that Mr Riveria seems to do most of the talking. I would have enjoyed seeing Mrs Rivera's opinion on the whole "save our children" thing. Especially, within the wider context of the East Side/West Side thing, and with Mrs. Rivera being from an immigrant community.
Anna felt very one-dimensional. I wanted more from her. I know, that I am closer in age to Anna than Deirdre or SJ, so perhaps I am biased. I wanted to know more about her motivations. I know teenagers can do stuff, just because, or misconstrue things. It just felt a little tidy, for her to send a note, and that be it.
The East Side/West Side thing. I like how it was kinda explored. Especially, within Deirdre who has come from a working-class background.
I still enjoyed it very much. It made me think. It is an important book with the current political climate. So many places could be quick to blame the perceived 'other' when their way of life is threatened.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2021
Read it for bookclub. It’s was ok and if it had been a lot shorter I wouldn’t have minded that it was just ok. I kept thinking maybe the author would “get” to something that there would be a pay off for plodding through the musings of some fairly annoying people. Hard to tell what era this book is meant to be set. It felt really dated but I don’t think it was meant to. I think the author wanted to go on some meaty thoughts in class and sexuality but it never got there or maybe I just don’t agree with the authors take aways. Poor people have no depth but then very few characters did. Basically a book about two really miserable lesbians who don’t have any chemistry or attraction to one another and also seem to incredibly poorly suited to their professions of teacher and librarians. My primary takeaway is that this reinforced my dislike of private schools and that they hire non-certified teachers! You want to teach kids? Get a masters! Go to school to learn how to teach! Likening kids and speaking French are not enough - though any of these people could have gone to therapy! Gods knows they ALL needed it. The child pedophile/murder sub plot was so bad it was almost offensive in how underdeveloped and Pat it was presented
April 4, 2024
This is such a painful book to read because every character fails to speak up when confronted with clear, obvious signs of danger.
It starts with the rape and murder of a 15-year-old boy, and the whole town assumes the perpetrator is a gay man.
Later, a mother whose daughter, Anna, attends a girl's private school sees her kissing her teacher after their return from a field trip, although Anna's teacher is caught by surprise.
Deidre’s wife recognized her student's unhealthy obsession with her teacher and warned her ahead of time that Anna was dangerous, yet never revealed her own childhood trauma with a male school teacher which explained WHY she foresaw the approaching disaster!
And when Deidre’s wife TOLD her to contact the principal ahead of time to explain what happened, Deidre idiotically assumed there'd be no consequences. She should have foreseen Anna's mother starting a neighborhood war accusing Deidre of being a pedophile – coinciding with the young boy's rape and murder to accuse all homosexuals of being child predators.
This story demonstrates why we must be observant to danger before someone else seizes an opportunity to declare war on helpless victims.
It starts with the rape and murder of a 15-year-old boy, and the whole town assumes the perpetrator is a gay man.
Later, a mother whose daughter, Anna, attends a girl's private school sees her kissing her teacher after their return from a field trip, although Anna's teacher is caught by surprise.
Deidre’s wife recognized her student's unhealthy obsession with her teacher and warned her ahead of time that Anna was dangerous, yet never revealed her own childhood trauma with a male school teacher which explained WHY she foresaw the approaching disaster!
And when Deidre’s wife TOLD her to contact the principal ahead of time to explain what happened, Deidre idiotically assumed there'd be no consequences. She should have foreseen Anna's mother starting a neighborhood war accusing Deidre of being a pedophile – coinciding with the young boy's rape and murder to accuse all homosexuals of being child predators.
This story demonstrates why we must be observant to danger before someone else seizes an opportunity to declare war on helpless victims.
February 10, 2017
I received an ARC through the Library Thing Early Readers program.
I thought this was quite good, although her reach exceeded her style which I found workmanlike at best. But the story was fascinating - a lesbian couple in northern Massachusetts, one is suspended from her position at a private girls school for assaulting a student and the other makes a rather unexpected friendship with a man accused of murder. It is, as the blurb says - a bit like Dennis Lahane and The Children's Hour. But Smith works to make her characters complex and she does get at the intensity of student-teacher relationships in a way that I've not seen anyone explore before.
Keep your eyes on this writer!
One tiny quibble - there was no marker as to when this story took place, although there was no cell phone use so that was a giant clue. I thought the novel really needed clear time, since place was amply identified.
I thought this was quite good, although her reach exceeded her style which I found workmanlike at best. But the story was fascinating - a lesbian couple in northern Massachusetts, one is suspended from her position at a private girls school for assaulting a student and the other makes a rather unexpected friendship with a man accused of murder. It is, as the blurb says - a bit like Dennis Lahane and The Children's Hour. But Smith works to make her characters complex and she does get at the intensity of student-teacher relationships in a way that I've not seen anyone explore before.
Keep your eyes on this writer!
One tiny quibble - there was no marker as to when this story took place, although there was no cell phone use so that was a giant clue. I thought the novel really needed clear time, since place was amply identified.
April 6, 2018
Every teacher's nightmare--a student makes accusations of molestation. Unfortunately for the teacher in The Year of Needy Girls, she is accused when her small town is already primed for hysteria, and . . . we're off and running.
Smith's scene setting and descriptions put us right in the middle of it all. We see a New England fall unfold in all its glory, but, like the teacher and her librarian partner, we feel as if we're watching it from somewhere else.
Finally, Smith's description of a teacher's way of thinking, especially of how we understand time and the seasons, is spot on:
Yep..
Smith's scene setting and descriptions put us right in the middle of it all. We see a New England fall unfold in all its glory, but, like the teacher and her librarian partner, we feel as if we're watching it from somewhere else.
Finally, Smith's description of a teacher's way of thinking, especially of how we understand time and the seasons, is spot on:
She scuffed through piles of leaves, each whoosh a reminder of every other autumn and every other beginning of the school year, the only way Deidre knew how to mark time.
All teachers knew that fall was really the beginning of the year and not January.
Yep..
December 2, 2021
Everyone in this book is insufferable (and not in an interesting/engaging way). Dierdre and SJ have to be the two most naive and un-self aware characters ever. The murder plotline and Dierdre's trial were the two points that got me to finish the book, and the resolution to both of those plotlines was incredibly disappointing. Anna just suddenly decided to recant, and it all went away? Some random guy we've never been introduced to was the killer? It felt like she didn't know how to end this book and just quickly wrapped it up. Many things about this book just felt unrealistic (Her fawning conversation with the famous French teacher? The town hall meeting? Come on.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2018
I found Patricia Smith's characterization of Brandywine Academy -- and its titular needy girls -- to be pitch-perfect. My favorite part of the story, which rang so painfully true, was the way in which teacher Deirdre so desperately believes that people can see her innocence. She believes someone, anyone, will come to her aid and stand up for her after being wrongly accused of kissing a student, and yet (almost) no one does. In the end, she must let go of everything she thought she possessed in order to finally be free.
May 1, 2018
Well written, but I found it so hard to like the protagonist, a naïve teacher named Deirdre who gets much too involved with a student. As a teacher myself, close to her in age and career experience, I kept cringing at her behavior as the story began to unfold. I also felt that she was a bit shallow, and I found her partner SJ, with whom she's having relationship difficulties, to be a bit self-righteous (though I think I liked SJ better than Deirdre overall). It's hard for me to really enjoy a book when the characters irritate me.
February 11, 2017
The Year of Needy Girls is a well-written and interesting story of a lesbian couple whose relationship and jobs (one a private school, high school level French teacher who absolutely loves her work and her students, the other a branch librarian) are deeply impacted by the rape and murder of a local 10 year old boy. A modern witch hunt is portrayed. I would definitely read anything else by this author.
January 17, 2018
A great story for anyone who has ever been on the wrong side of a hideous accusation. The main character Deidre must put her life back together while also navigating relationship troubles with her girlfriend SJ. For years the two have downplayed their relationship (with her job as a teacher at a upscale private school) and as a result much of the story has to do with Deidre choosing a more authentic life for herself. Another fantastic release by Kaylie Jones Books!
March 22, 2017
This novel goes for it! An aftermath story that explores xenophobia, homophobia, and class injustice in a small New England town, but one that could take place in any town in contemporary America. A literary page-turner while slowing down enough to zoom in on the interior worlds of the two female point-of-view characters. If you expect bigotry and hate to be conquered, or flawed characters to find redemption, you'd be reading the wrong book. The Year of Needy Girls will leave you thinking long after the final chapter.
May 7, 2017
The writing is pretty good, but the book annoyed me. Lesbians making terrible decisions! This includes but is not limited to having terrible boundaries with students and, you know, being alone with a suspected child rapist and murderer. I can't abide crime shows in which characters walk into unlit basements with no light, no backup, and no damn sense. This entire book felt like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2018
I loved the book. The character development is very complex. She really get in the characters thoughts and their thought processes. It was a page turner and I appreciated the perspective of a gay couple. I was thrown off by the timing and from reading the other reviews it looks like it was the 90's. Looking forward to more work by this writer.
February 2, 2017
Here's a contemporary rendition of a witch hunt--a small new England town, terrified by the kidnapping and murder of a boy, takes out its anger on a private girls' school teacher who's lesbian. A sad but gripping read.
June 26, 2017
Characters so intoxicating that you fly through the book- I definitely recommend for anyone who loves murder-y page turners. As someone who went to VCU and lives in Richmond I'm so proud of this local author.
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