A GIRL, IN PARTS

This quiet gem of a debut novel projects sincerity through its tightly focused vignettes and unsentimental depiction of a challenging—though in many ways ordinary—five years in the life of one girl. In 97 short sections, Paul captures the convincing voice of Dorothy, at the start of the novel a nine-year-old growing up in the 1980s in Martinsburg, W.Va. Dorothy lives with her bartending mother; her stepfather, Lyle; and her baby brother, Gabe, in a tumbledown house in a town she despises; she wishes it would burn to the ground so she could go live in Cleveland with her father. The family contends with working-class poverty and illness (Dorothy has chronic asthma and survives a bout with tuberculosis; her brother contracts ringworm and is slow to walk and talk). When life takes a turn for the better—they move to eastern Washington State—Dorothy is subjected to the humiliating experience of having to wear braces and headgear to correct a jaw deformity. But these harsh details, delivered unsparingly and without self-pity from Dorothy's point of view, are merely the backdrop for the timeworn adolescent rites of passage of friendships, crushes and the search for identity. While she gains acceptance by excelling on the basketball team with a group of Indian girls and becomes close friends with the beautiful and rebellious Dawn, Dorothy must also face the realities of the tensions within her family. Paul's sure grasp of her narrator's voice and keen observations make both the ordinary and unusual aspects of one childhood shine. Regional author tour.(Aug.)