What?? Two books in one week?? I know, right? I am definitely out of my reading slump. Teaching literature this summer has really helped with that, for obvious reasons (i.e. I HAVE to read the books I'm teaching, duh), but it's also gotten me back into reading all the things, and wanting to read all the time, which is fantastic. It's also showing me that I would probably like teaching a lot more if I got to teach literature, but I also wouldn't have a job at all if I had stayed in that field, so I know it's all for the best.
Anyway, I found out about Not Otherwise Specified through the Barnes & Noble Teen blog because I was researching recent LGBT YA novels, and this one was listed as one of the hottest releases of 2015. I read the synopsis and literally bolted to the library and checked it out the same day. It's about a former anorexic bisexual ballet dancer. Hello! Clearly I had to get my hands on this one immediately.
The most compelling thing about this book is the voice of the main character, Etta. One reviewer talked about Moskowitz's trademark stream-of-consciousness style, and after I read that, I was like, oh yeah, I guess it is kind of written that way. I also think this got more intense as the book went on. So you are really all up in Etta's head, and she is funny and sassy and all the things I like about a character. She is African American and Moskowitz is white, which I have some feelings about, but the only time I really objected was in the section where Etta is talking to someone about the difference (and similarities) of being gay and being African American and I'm thinking, you don't really have the right to weigh in on this . . . but then that's me conflating the author and the character, but in this situation, the identity of the author does matter if she is trying to write from the perspective of someone of another race. Anyway, it's tricky. I remember having this debate in one of my African-American lit classes at State; one student, a white fiction writer was arguing that he should have the right to write from the perspective of characters of other races, and other members of the class had a lot of feelings about that, myself included. But I also wouldn't make the argument that all writers are confined to only writing from the perspective of characters of their own race, because that just feels too limiting. That said, I don't have a problem if a non-white writer wants to have a white protagonist , but I definitely have some feelings about it when a white writer tries to write from the perspective of a person of color. I just think it's really complicated. And Moskowitz is really young. Not that that should matter either, but knowing that both made me give her a pass and made me almost dismiss her at the same time. I don't like either of those reactions, but I'm just being honest here.
Anyway, the book was a fun read overall, despite my race consternation. I would like to read more of her books, especially since she seems to often feature LGBT characters, and experiment with different protagonists and voices. She is clearly a writer with prodigious talent -- I think she sold her first book before she was even 16 years old. I'm interested to see how her writing develops over the next few years.
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