Georgie Girl

by Elizabeth Sumner Wafler

Georgie Bricker is mortified by boys. Unfortunately, growing up in the seventies on the sleepy campus of Virginia's Browning School for Boys with her faculty family means she is surrounded by a herd of them. Determined to focus on her path to college, she meets temptation personified when Truman Parker arrives for the fall term with eyes the blue of a peacock's neck and a penchant for snappy salutes. Georgie is smitten. But when she's paired for a project with bad-boy Kelly in French class at the junior high they attend in town, a volatile love triangle develops, and her resolve disintegrates.

Meanwhile, Georgie and her life-long best friend Lacey are stricken to discover their Camelot-like community at Browning rife with incongruity—from an adulterous faculty affair, to drug use, to a secret closet-cache of child pornography. Tension escalates when desegregation descends on both Georgie's school and the Browning campus. But that situation is compounded by the report of a missing young faculty child. Fourteen-year-old Georgie's secrets could save the day but ultimately destroy a life. With Truman and Lacey by her side and time running out, can Georgie figure out what a woman would do in a scared girl’s situation before her relationship, her friends, and their families’ lives are forever altered?

Genres: Young Adult Historical Fiction

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 3, 2020

About the author

I believe in second chances. The theme has surprised me by prancing into every one of my books. So many people live out their lives without getting what they want or what they need. Instead, they settle for less, subsisting instead of making things happen.

As you get to know my characters, I want you imbued with a sense of hope and possibility--with the magic that can happen when someone first pokes a toe out of her comfort zone and decides to make things happen. I want you to relate to my discretely individual characters who, like most women, desire and deserve true love; authentic relationships, whether they be friends, mothers, grown children, lovers, or partners; and work that is meaningful. I want you to care about the character's emotional hurts and the misunderstandings that cause them to stumble and to cheer them on as they make choices that ultimately lead them to create empowered and fulfilling lives. As you read the last page, I hope my work will have given you that "Aww-that-was-so-good" feeling that makes you want to hop up and share the story with your best friends.

As an evocative writer, I bring strong images, memories, or feelings to mind. You will find my work filled with vivid metaphors, unique prose, and detailed descriptions that make you feel part of the scene. And alliteration. I go gaga over glorious alliteration. That's the kind of book I enjoy reading myself. My stories will always involve friendship and a love interest for my main character. You'll find swoon-worthy love scenes, but the sex will be "behind closed doors." You will find conflict at every turn, tension on most pages, and "cliffhangery" scene and chapter enders. I hope my overall style pleases and resonates with you and further deepens your reading experience.

I enjoy working with other writers through my freelance editorial business Four Eyes Editorial. I live with my husband and a pair of puppers in a sweet spot of South Carolina, between the Blue Ridge Mountains and some of the country's most beautiful beaches. I can be found reading or enjoying a glass of sauvignon blanc on my screened porch, gardening, at a yoga class, working at my blue desk, or at a farmer’s market in search of the perfect heirloom tomato.

Website: https:/elizabethsumnerwafler.com

Instagram: #elizabeth_sumner_wafler

Four Eyes Editorial: https://elizabethsumnerwafler.com/edi....

Reviews

[Summer Song · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Georgie Girl" is a sweet, beautiful, and heartbreaking story written by Elizabeth Sumner Wafler. The setting of 1970s Virginia is described with vivid and poetic language and clarity of detail which helps the reader to envision the locations, characters, and events and to feel very invested in the story and connected to the characters. The author has done wonderful work describing the buildings, clothing, music, and the 1970s events and culture which shape the characters and their families. The characters feel three-dimensional and like real people along with personalities, emotions, and thoughts of their own. In this story we follow Georgie and her friends as they navigate the joys and challenges of adolescence, friendship, love, and change. We also see these characters face danger as their beliefs and ideals are challenged and at times shattered. The speed of the plot is perfect and the author's writing style is smooth and sparkling with wit, humor, beauty, and hope. The author has done great work expressing the dangers and difficulties the characters face with sensitivity and care. This story and its characters will live on in your mind and heart long after turning the last page. As with the author's other books— there is something beautiful, important, and of high value for everyone to take away from this book. I am always amazed at this author's wonderful ability and talent to create such original stories and unforgettable characters. As well as how remarkably she transports the reader to the setting (in this case 1970s Virginia) through the pages! I cannot recommend "Georgie Girl" highly enough! This is a work of beauty and hope. 5 stars! Love this book so much! Thank you very much to the author for providing me with a physical copy of "Georgie Girl" to read and review honestly.

[Margaret Spence · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than a Coming-of-Age Story

It seems like it would be a teenage girl’s dream—to live as a faculty daughter in a boys’ boarding school. For Georgette ( Georgie) Bricker, however, adolescence proves tricky in this environment. Hormones are practically characters in themselves in this story as Georgie navigates relationships, falls in first love, and has to make choices common to all teenagers. But this is more than a coming-of-age story. Set in the 1970’s when Southern schools became racially integrated, the novel explores a teenager’s dawning realization that the wider world may not share her kind parents’ values. Then, in a shocking conclusion, events force this protected child into an untimely realization of life’s cruel reality.
Elizabeth Sumner Wafler writes about happy families and good parenting. This is really refreshing in today’s dystopian literary environment. But Wafler shows that girls with the most privileged of upbringings must confront life’s difficulties and make complicated moral choices. Georgie Girl keeps the reader alert and thinking right the way through. Bravo.

[Joanne Easley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Wafler’s engaging main character Georgie captured my heart in the first pages. Her teenage angst and concerns are spot-on. Peppered with cultural references evoking the 1970s Zeitgeist, this coming-of-age story brought back memories and kept me turning pages. Love and loss and friends and family are timeless themes everyone can relate to. Highly recommended read.

[Lisa Wetzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Wafler has written a wonderful story of a young girl in her debut novel Georgie Girl. Wafler will take on a journey of this young girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, the 1970’s. She deals with all changes a girl has to deal with. Not only the physical and mental changes and first loves but then add the sex drugs and rock roll of this era! As her innocence is lost she has to deal with family and obligations to them and herself, desires and expectations and she must learn to make choices beyond her age. This book will make you feel you have gone back in time and are 14 again! I recommend you take a walk down memory lane and enjoy this heartwarming novel.

Thank you Elizabeth Sumner Wafler for this book I won in The Wild Sage Book Group. My review is honest and my own.

[Merida Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

What fun following Georgie Girl through her highs, lows, and “in-betweens.” More than a coming-of-age story, it chronicles how Georgie and others—her friends, parents, teachers—face ethical dilemmas. It is a well-paced story with plenty of great turns of phrases that made me laugh with the characters. Readers who enjoy a spunky and imperfect but relatable young group of characters will find this hopeful story more than satisfying—the characters, their challenges, and their language stay with you long past the last page of the story.

[Barbara Conrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Georgie Girl, Elizabeth Sumner Wafler beautifully recreates a young girl’s path as she bridges the gap between childhood and womanhood. As many of us know, it is a path filled with joy, humility, humor, anger, and angst, and the author portrays these emotions beautifully and realistically in this delightful Coming of Age novel.

[Sayword B Eller · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy coming of age stories, you’re going to love this book. Set in the 1970s, Georgie Girl immerses the reader in the life of the very clever Georgie Bricker. With vivid characterizations and plenty of scandal, this book is the perfect weekend read.

[Sandra Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgie Girl is a sweet coming-of-age story immersed in 1970’s culture. For those who lived during that era, fond memories are jogged by frequent mentions of popular foods, clothing, songs, movies, etc. Younger readers will gather a strong feel for the time period, as well, as Georgie and her best friend navigate their early teen years. Georgie’s personality shines as she navigates through puberty and first love, balancing the allure of boys against her academic goals. Yet everything isn’t sweetness and light in her world, living as a faculty family at a boy’s school. The book also delves into darker topics along with the expected young teen dramas.

[Kay Elam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful coming of age novel

This sweet book follows the life of Georgia Bricker and her best friend, Lacey, as they navigate school, boys, changes in their bodies, and all aspects of growing up. Weaving in family, obligations, desires and expectations, the author paints a picture of growing up in the 70’s that hits home for those of us from that generation. It is well-written and would be enjoyed by teens and up. Kudos to Ms Wafler for an exemplary debut novel.

[Lainey Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nostalgic and well-written teenage tale.

Set on the campus of an all boys school, Georgie Girl is a coming of age story, set in the 1970s, of 13-year-old Georgie Bricker.

The novel captures well the drama of a teenager’s point of view. During a pivotal year of change, I was immersed in Georgie's teenage angst; a world that revolves around periods, bras and a burgeoning interest in boys. The author gets across effectively that moment when every small decision feels fraught with uncertainty yet of critical importance.

Set on the unusual location of an all boys boarding school where Georgie’s father is a professor, the story is written in a vivid and descriptive writing style, with lots of focus on setting. Nostalgic and atmospheric, and infused with song lyrics from the 1970s.

With important social trends like de-segregation and racism taking place around her, over the course of the novel Georgie becomes more aware of injustice and of the danger and injustice of the world outside her own protected circle.

Languid and nostalgic, Georgie Girl cleverly captures the feel of long summers and the angst of those early teen years.

[Reem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst reading this book, I wondered when exactly the mentions of drama-drugs, mystery, and more- would actually begin. This book was nostalgic, and I think for many people in a certain demographic it could be very close to the heart. For me it wasn’t something I related intensely to, regardless, the writing and descriptions were very detailed, almost without flaw. As I reached the last three chapters of the book, it almost felt as if I was not reading the same book. The shift in tone was unexpected and fast-paced, and the twist itself was hard to take in-either because of how painful it was or simply how unprepared I was for it- the ending was done. Similar to a foreign film rereleased in American theaters with a less bleak ending. Overall, an engaging read! But most likely won’t be picking it up anytime soon.

[Kristina Parro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Georgie is an exquisitely crafted coming of age novel that made me nostalgic for the 1970’s childhood I never had. Exploring relatable topics, especially for a women’s fiction audience, Wafler drew me in to Georgie’s story and left me wanting more. I loved the characters, the romance, the life lessons, and the authentic look at such a unique life experience (a girl growing up in the 1970s on the campus of an all boys boarding school).

[Therese Gilardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Georgie Girl" is a fresh addition to the YA coming of age canon. Although Elizabeth Sumner Wafler gives readers an insightful peak into 1970's America and the turbulent issues of that era, "Georgie Girl"is much more than a period piece. It's a gripping, sharp tale that captures the evergreen issues of school, crushes and parents that rule the teen world. Highly recommend.

[Vickie Shallcross]

I very much enjoyed Georgie Girl. I love the way Elizabeth writes in the first person and you feel like you are living the experiences of the characters. Georgie Girl explored the growing pains of growing up and young love and it was fun to revisit these experiences through Georgie. Thanks Elizabeth.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for this book.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish it since the print was so small it was very hard to read. Also, I didn't realize it was a Young Adult. I'm not saying I don't read any but this one was just too YA for me.

[Emily Searle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider this book a treasure. For a whole week while I read it, I got to revisit all my first loves and betrayals and lies and truths from my early teen years. I want to stay here. This book is beautiful!

[Kimberly Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgie Girls was a blast from my past. It was so fun to relive the 1970s scene, music, and trends. Wafler touches on important topics of the time: racial disparity, Vietnam, and women's rights. I can't wait to read more of her books.

[Kerry Chaput · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart, witty Georgie takes a step out of her sheltered childhood and into the world of heartthrobs, college scandal, and secrets. She must face emotions she’s never had, and figure out how to navigate this new, complicated world. Coming of age with plenty of intrigue!

[Daphnee Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! So sweet

[Shipwrekt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Georgie Girl is a woman/child that took me right with her, into the classroom, the kitchen, the bedroom and the woods. Was she in my head or was I in hers? When Georgie was about to make a bad decision, I'd be screaming NO NO, but then in reflection (and this book does make you reflect) I realize I'd have made the exact same decision.
The worst thing about this book is that it ended. The events were tied up at the end, but it was very hard to let go of the story.
A riveting read. I think I'll read it again.

[Christine]

Georgie Girl is a sweet, sad coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old girl and all that matters to her: family, friends, boys and school. So, as her innocence is lost little by little through discoveries about the real world—adulterous faculty members, drug use and racism among her peers—Georgie is forced to grow up. Ultimately faced with difficult choices, she must think beyond what’s best for her, and consider what’s best for all.

The cultural references took me back to the 1970s, in all its messy glory. Wafler’s delicious prose and understanding of a young girl’s heart make this a delightful read for anyone young or old.
The ending was a gut punch, and kept Georgie on my mind long after the last page.