Daring to be Abigail
The upbeat letters 11-year-old Abigail sends home from summer camp tell only part of her story. In this unflinchingly realistic novel about girls on the brink of adolescence, Rachel Vail explores the intricacies of peer pressure and individual identity through dialogue, actions and reactions, in addition to the perspective offered by Abigail's often less-than-honest epistolary account of her day-to-day activities. From her first day at camp, Abigail secures a place in the "in-crowd" by bragging that she has never turned down a dare. Actually her thoughts and letters reveal that she is terrified of many things, especially jumping off the high dive, disappointing her father, and, worst of all, being excluded from the top clique. Desperate to be included, she lives up to her newly acquired persona at all costs, until her daring becomes synonymous with cowardice. Building on the typical preteen chatter about cute boys, leg shaving and who's-done-what, Vail offers a level of depth rarely seen in novels written for this audience. Amazingly, she accomplishes it by contrasting surface appearances, leaving readers to make their own connections and draw their own conclusions. ©1996 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 8-12
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Correspondence/Letters
Fear
Friendship
Identity
Perspective/Point of View
Self-Esteem and Self-Worth
Publishers:
Orchard, Richard Jackson Book
Publish Year: 1996
Pages: 128
ISBN: 0531095172
CCBC Location: Fiction, Vail