Graveyard Girl

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Overview

In June of 1982 a group of high school students in the town of Lee re-enact the previous summer's glitzy royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Organized by their teachers, the group receives extensive coverage in the town newspaper and the school yearbook.

In this set of twelve linked short stories, each of the participants in the "Wedding of the Century" seeks out his or her own truth in the years that follow. We learn about the ...

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Overview

In June of 1982 a group of high school students in the town of Lee re-enact the previous summer's glitzy royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Organized by their teachers, the group receives extensive coverage in the town newspaper and the school yearbook.

In this set of twelve linked short stories, each of the participants in the "Wedding of the Century" seeks out his or her own truth in the years that follow. We learn about the network of love, fear and intrigue that bind young people who shared this fairy-tale event. And we learn about the real-life demons they subsequently confront, the advantages they celebrate, the disadvantages they endure, and the temptations they face. For Tish, life is never the same after the tragic death of her best ex-friend Alex. Derek, the mock wedding's prince, ends up as a hockey star while Jewel, Diana in the mock wedding, has her own romance to play out with tougher consequences. And Naylor, who had the second-banana role of Prince Edward, meets up with an extraordinary stranger whose flight to freedom lifts Naylor from a hum-drum existence. The last word comes from the wry voice of Ginger-always the outsider-who snapped the mock royal photograph and who, years later, contemplates the lives of her one-time classmates from the vantage of the Lee town cemetery.

"A subtle, sophisticated, beautifully crafted book."
-Quill and Quire

"An impressive debut."
-Quill and Quire

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
While Lewis chooses a tenuous premise for her novel (an Anglophiliac geography teacher's staging of a reenactment of Princess Diana's nuptials), the characters are sympathetic. Set mostly in Canada, the book is broken into a series of stories, each narrated by one of the "mock royal wedding" participants. High school students who took part in the wedding narrate the first half, set in 1983, while the second half takes place 10 years later, with narrators who were preschool participants. Each character struggles with his or her challenges: Jewel has had a baby, and must deal with her mother's disapproval, and Kevin is watching his sister battle cancer. Ginger, who narrates the prologue and final chapter, set in 1999 (the reason for all these different dates is never made clear), was nicknamed the "Graveyard Girl" in high school because she slept with boys in the cemetery. Even as an adult, she is haunted by memories of her dark childhood, and mourns the loss of her own first love. Several of the characters manage their crises with supernatural assistance; for example, the new girl who tells Kevin that his sister will be okay may be an angel. Some readers may have a hard time understanding the mock royal wedding's significance or find some of the supernatural elements jarring or clich d. However, those who make the leap will appreciate the tender moments, such as when Jewel's mother finds her daughter dancing with her baby, and embraces them both. Ages 12-up. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
VOYA
In this debut collection of stories, each with its own narrator, Lewis introduces some impressive characters to teen readers. The device linking the stories together is an old yearbook photograph. Those present in the photograph were participants in a high school performance, a mock wedding celebrating the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer. The opening story sets up the framework as Ginger, the collection's first and final narrator, opens her yearbook and begins to reminisce. The vignettes take place in the smallish town of Lee, Ontario, at various times between 1983 and Ginger's thirty-sixth birthday in 1999, when she finally leaves high school behind. After Ginger, readers meet Mandy, a minister's daughter who does not believe in God; studious Naylor, who hopes to grow into his big ears and out of his bad skin; the mysterious, battered Juan Delacosa, who is able to transcend his way to freedom; and a typical although interesting cast of other high school characters—twelve in all. They are as complex as the longings and joys that mark adolescence. The device of the mock wedding, although realistically keeping this collection grounded in high school, almost seems unnecessary. The writing and characterizations have the strength to stand on their own. The tangential adult characters—various teachers, parents, and grandparents—also are well drawn. High school students will enjoy this collection and spending time with each character as his or her life comes into focus. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, Red Deer Press, 190p, Trade pb. Ages 16 to 18.Reviewer: Cynthia Grady SOURCE: VOYA, June 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 2)
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Short stories told by teens who face tragic or memorable events, framed around a high school reenactment of Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding. Half of the stories take place in 1983 and the other half in 1993 with one summary story set in 1999. The author includes almost every issue a contemporary teen could conceivably face or be affected by: pregnancy, adoption, lesbian exploration, parent abuse, murder, jealousy, atheism, death of a parent, crime and restitution, divorce, alcohol abuse, feeling rejection, and romance. It's often difficult to keep the characters and their parts in the wedding straight, particularly those who were not classmates but were brought in as flower girls and page boys. It's also unlikely that today's teens will care about a wedding that took place before they were born. Further, it's doubtful that they'll identify with the narrator who sets the scene and provides the closure, the photographer of the event who is now "eighteen years older and eighty pounds heavier."--Sandra L. Doggett, Urbana High School, Ijamsville, MD Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780889952027
  • Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Limited
  • Publication date: 9/10/2002
  • Pages: 176
  • Age range: 14 years
  • Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 8.28 (h) x 0.51 (d)

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