The Rites & Wrongs of Janice Wills
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
For anyone who's ever survived a rite of passage or performed a mating dance at Prom . . .The Japanese hold a Mogi ceremony for young women coming of age. Latina teenagers get quinceaneras. And Janice Wills of Melva, NC ... has to compete in the Miss Livermush pageant. Janice loves anthropology--the study of human cultures--and her observations help her identify useful rules in the chaotic world of high school. For instance: Dancing is an effective mating ritual--but only if you're good at it; Hot Theatre Guys will never speak to Unremarkable Smart Girls like Janice and her best friend, Margo; and a Beautiful Rich Girl will always win Melva's annual Miss Livermush pageant. But when a Hot Theatre Guy named Jimmy Denton takes an interest in Janice, all her scientific certainties explode. For the first time, she has to be part of the culture that she's always observed; and all the charts in the world can't prove how tough--and how sweet--real participation and a real romance can be. Funny, biting, and full of wisdom, this marks the debut of a writer to watch.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
How better to survive high school than by pulling back and observing it with the cool, detached eye of an anthropologist? That's junior Janice Mills's plan, though readers will soon recognize that Janice isn't nearly as objective as she believes she is. For Janice, living in the small North Carolina town of Melva is an opportunity to engage in the kind of cultural analysis practiced by such heroes as Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict. As Janice puts it, "Melva is a town of biscuit-eating sports enthusiasts who smile, pray, and sing the national anthem while the town seems to be crumbling under everyone's feet." But there's a thin line between honesty and cruelty, and her judgments and assumptions are starting to cause trouble. Debut novelist Pearson has created a wonderfully insecure protagonist in Janice, one as uncomfortable in her own skin as she is in just about any social situation ("I believed in hiding my hopeless innocence behind scorn whenever possible"). Janice's path to increased self-knowledge and empathy through the unlikeliest of avenues, the annual Miss Livermush pageant is rewarding, honest, and quite funny. Ages 14 up.
