Girl, Hero
by Carrie Jones

    GIRL, HERO by Carrie Jones
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  8/1/08
    Publisher:  Flux
    Reviewed by:  Tasha
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Liliana’s (or Lili, as her friends and family call her) world is slowly falling apart.

    Her mother’s new boyfriend is a freak who has a nasty alcohol addiction and creeps Lili out as he stands silently
    outside of her bedroom every night. Then there’s her father, who is a little emotional and very forgetful, who Lili
    loves a lot, but just can’t seem to like. To top it all off, her sister is in an abusive relationship and the one person she
    can turn to for relief, her best friend, Nicole, has all of a sudden become a two-faced backstabber.

    All Lili wants in her life is a hero. Seeing that there is no one in her real life to turn to she writes letters to John
    Wayne. He may be a dead cowboy, but at least he is a positive influence in Lili’s life and knows what it takes to
    become a hero. When Lili befriends Sasha, a resident thespian, she convinces Lili to try out for the school play.
    Thinking there’s nothing to lose, Lili goes for it, hoping for the best. Along the way she meets Paolo, a wildcard in
    her foul hand of cards. He is sweet, caring, and extremely hot! Paolo, along with Sasha and a few others, help Lili
    on her quest to becoming a hero.

    How to tell you about this book??... It is powerful, hardcore, and utterly breathtaking. It made me cry and laugh and
    scream. Carrie Jones doesn’t hold back and makes us realize how lucky we are to have a life that isn’t infiltrated
    with hardship. This was one of the few books that actually made me cry. The situations that the characters were put
    into were told with such emotion that I couldn’t help but get all worked up. When I felt the characters did something
    stupid I screamed, when the teens were up to no good I laughed, and most of all I cried to think that someone as
    sweet as Lili had to endure such pain.

    The whole story is told through Lili’s letters to John Wayne, so we're able to really get to know the true Lili. She
    didn’t hold anything back in those letters where she was searching for a hero. Not only was Lili’s character great,
    but I loved how she found herself. Even though she suffered from unimaginable heartache, she was still able to find it
    inside herself to be the best possible person that she could be.

    Overall, GIRL, HERO was an outstanding book that dealt with some of the hardest subjects. There was abuse,
    friendship, loss, and love, which all combined to form one heck of a poignant and beautiful novel that I will never,
    ever forget.