Jailbait

Jailbait Leslea Newman Date: 14 June, 2005   —   $10.85   —   Book product page Rating:

The year is 1971 and Andi is a lonely 15 year-old girl looking for love.  Her best friend has moved to Philadelphia, her beloved older brother is away at college, and her parents are too wrapped up in their own lives to wonder why Andi starts spending so much time at the library after school.  Of course, Andi isn't at the library, she's sneaking off to an abandoned model house to be with Frank, a shady stranger at least twice her age.  Andi describes Frank as "moody" because one minute he tells her how beautiful she is and the next minute he tells her to shut up.  Frank manipulates Andi and gains her trust by telling her how much he's risking to be with her with her since she's "jailbait." 

The thought behind this novel is intriguing, but the story itself doesn't deliver.  By setting the novel in 1971, the author distances the reader from Andi.  Andi's actions don't really seem to match her personality.  She was an "early bloomer" and is embarrassed about her body which she thinks is fat, and yet she quickly falls into a physical and visual relationship with Frank who buys her lingerie to wear when they're together.  Frank somehow makes Andi pursue him.  He makes her give him something valuable to prove she trusts him and makes her buy the condoms.  While the reasons Andi stays in this abusive relationship are believable, her reasons for entering into it in the first place are not.

The epilogue is totally unbelievable and unnecessary.  The author is obviously trying to have a positive, upbeat ending and show that Andi has learned from her experience.  The only thing Andi seems to have learned is not to get into cars with strangers.  There's nothing substantial to suggest that if she ever found herself in another abusive relationship, she'd have the sense to get out.

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit