Liked this well enough but it hasn't really stood out to me years later. Donating. ( )

This novel tells the story of a lost teenager named Sara Shaw whose mother chose to stay in a commune, leaving her hippy father to raise her. Sara isn’t sure where she fits in - at home or at school. She spent her afternoons with the burnout boys until they do something horrible to a classmate that she cannot forgive or stop thinking about. She doesn’t understand her father any more than he understands her. After finding her in a compromising position in the garden, he chooses to leave her at home to live by herself while he goes off to live out his crazy hippy dream. Alone, Sara skips school and that is when she first sees Justine, the girl with the torn skirt who seems to have it all together. Sara’s decision to find her leads her down a path that ultimately ends in personal disaster.

Rebecca Godfrey is a gifted author. Her writing made Sara so real and Justine so intriguing. She gave Sara flashes of hope with her interest and study in nursing while, in the context of the larger decisions she was making, illustrating her despair. Sara tells her story from her memory as her life’s tragic circumstances are unfolding. Godfrey’s stylistic choices with the use of quotation marks emphasizes how unreliable her story is, whether that be by choice or due to drug use. Still, Godfrey is honest about who Sara is, even when Sara may not be honest herself

The Torn Skirt takes place in the 80s and it most definitely has that feel. I was interested in Sara and her story from the very beginning and that held up all the way through until the end. If you’ve ever known a lost teenager or if you were one yourself, you can relate to Sara and the impact that lack of direction and one bad decision can have on a young life. You will remember how things are usually not what they seem. You will recognize that those who seem confident in who they are and where they are going often are more lost than you are.

The Torn Skirt, which is Rebecca Godfrey’s first novel, was published in 2001. I am eagerly waiting for her next.

http://literatehousewife.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/106-the-torn-skirt/ ( )

this is my favourite book, period. if you've ever felt lost with a feverish pull towards rooftop freedom, you will absolutely love this book. fast-paced and with lyrical prose it will capture your heart. ( )

i definitely did not enjoy the ending of this. and at times i thought it was outrageous and completely unbelievable. it was like watching a bad lifetime movie only much better written. ( )

Sara's sick of her small town and her life there. Things don't really get interesting for her until a chance encounter with an outlaw girl named Justine which leads Sara into the underground world of drug deals, junkies, and prostitutes. ( )