Loose Girl (1-42)

Summary:

Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen is set in New York where Kerry lives with an older sister named Tyler and her mother. Kerry's parents are divorced and after the divorce Kerry's mother was devastated, all she did was cry and she left a despairing atmosphere in the house. Because of her mom's depression Tyler learned to help her mother, she constantly tried to make her feel better by saying everything was going to be OK. This caused her mother and sister have a very tight bond with one another, one that Kerry did not have with anyone. This left Kerry feeling alone and unloved. As an eleven year old girl that went to a private school, all Kerry wanted was attention, any type of attention, as long as someone was there to make it seem like she was worth something. In order to gain attention Kerry started to go out with her friends late at night to meet up at boys houses, but Kerry had to lie to her mother in order for her to be able to go out. She would tell her mother that she was spending the day at her friends house, though she wasn't. After her mother got over her depression she decides she wants to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, Kerry and Tyler move in with their dad and their mom goes off to school.  Everything goes downhill from there, Kerry becomes a wild girl drinking and smoking, wearing pounds of make-up, trying to stand out, trying to be noticed by boys. She went to parties all night and does things she's not proud of, and her father has finally had enough. He transfered her into another private school hoping she'll change, but she doesn't, she goes out until three in the morning, drinks, smokes, gives herself up to boys in order to feel loved. That's all she really wanted, to be loved somehow.

Quote:

"The excitement of the city enters my bones like drugs from a syringe." 

(Kerry 36)

Reaction:

Cohen has a very descriptive way of writing. Every page is filled with similes and metaphors, personifications and descriptions. She adds details to everything, which helps clear up what she is trying to get through to the reader. The quote I choose is a strong representation of the author's style because it shows how Kerry loved being in the city because it gave her a chance to stand out of the crowd, but also how she related her love for the city to drugs, which she ends up using. Cohen is able to compare two very different things and compare it to her life and lifestyle.  I like fact that Cohen was very truthful in her writing by saying that she knew what she was doing was wrong but at the time, to her it was worth it.