Schoolgirl, a book translated by Allison Markin Powell is narrated by a schoolgirl in the midst of her teenage years growing up during WW2. She goes about explaining things in such a whimsical way the world is so much more detailed from her perspective. As the narrator goes about her day she often mentions her mood swings and sort of brings a light to the more challenging questions in life and how she relates to them

They were far removed from anything like real hopes and ambitions. Basically, uninspired things. They were criticisms, yes but not actually things that had a positive bearing on my life. There was no introspection. No real self-awareness, self regard, or self-respect.” I really like how the author critiques prohibitive social rules and objectives and examines the thoughts in her head. It’s like we experience everything with her from a first-person point of view.

“I thought today I will try to pretend that I am from somewhere else, someone who has never been from this country town before. It made me miserable that I was rapidly becoming an adult and that I was unable to do anything about it.” she reflects. while mourning her father’s death and seeing her mom change completely she wishes that she could stay a child forever while she was slowly witnessing her youth slipping away. One of the reasons this book sparked my interest was because of how the protagonist relates to today’s youth.

A line that I really liked was “A mere smile can determine a woman’s fate.” The author does an amazing job portraying the unfiltered thoughts a lot of us think about daily. Although this book was written by a man he did an amazing job portraying the struggles women go through.

Why should you read this book? This book is a perfect example of the standards women endure and if you’ve read Catcher in the Rye this may be the book for you similar to Holden’s feelings about the artificiality of the people around him somewhat connects to how the protagonist in schoolgirl feels. Her character is so unique and relatable in several ways and makes you reconsider how society operates from.