Fangirl

Rowell, R. (2013). Fangirl. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.

Genre: Modern Realistic Fiction (coming of age, sexual orientation, college life, humor, readers are drawn into the story because the characters and plot are believable)

Subjects: YA Fiction - love stories, dating & sex, authorship, groupies, authorship, families, social issues, mental illness, college life

Audience: Older teens (16 & up)

Cather and her twin sister Wren are headed to college.  Wren is ready to be on her own but Cather is introverted and anxious about college, not being roommates with Wren, and leaving her father due to his mental illness.  She would rather stay in her dorm room and write fan fiction based on her favorite books than face the college world.  Wren begins to party, drink, and stops talking to her.  Cather is doing well in her classes but is struggling to fit in and be a part of college life.  Her roommate Reagan takes her under her wing and introduces her to her ex-boyfriend, Levi.  At the end of the first semester, Cather finally decides to take a chance on Levi and gets her heart broken, her dad has a bi-polar breakdown, Wren gets alcohol poisoning, and she doesn't complete her assignment for her fiction writing course. She also has to come to terms with her mother's abandonment of them when they were 8. In her second semester of college, Cather finally manages to pull herself together and to truly live her life with the encouragement of her father, reconciliation with her sister, and Levi's love. She discovers herself in her writing and writes from her heart about her life.

Rainbow Rowell pulls the reader in with her detailed, realistic characterization of Cather, Wren, her roommate Reagan, and her first love interest Levi.  The reader quickly sees that Cather is reluctant to grow up and leave the safety of her childhood home and the fan fiction world of Simon Snow that carried her through her mother leaving and her father's mental illness.  Cather knows that she has to grow up, but that doesn't stop her from resenting everyone who suggests it.  Readers can relate to the fear of the unknown, social awkwardness of new situations and relationships, and struggles with family.    

Awards:
Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee (2015)

The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky (2015)

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2013)

A New York Times Notable Book
Amazon Editors’ Top 20 Teen and Young Adult Books of the Year
Indigo Books, Top 10 Books of the Year
Indigo Books, Best Teen Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild selection
Tumblr’s first Reblog Book Club book
Topped Library Reads’ First Favorites List

Teaching Resources:
Author's website
YALSA interview
Teaching Ideas
Book Trailer