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3.5 

What Girls Are Made Of

By Elana K. Arnold
What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A 2017 National Book Award for Young People's Literature Finalist

When Nina Faye was fourteen, her mother told her there was no such thing as unconditional love. Nina believed her. Now she'll do anything for the boy she loves, to prove she's worthy of him. But when he breaks up with her, Nina is lost. What is she if not a girlfriend? What is she made of? Broken-hearted, Nina tries to figure out what the conditions of love are.

"Finally, finally, a book that is fully girl, with all of the gore and grace of growing up female exposed." —Carrie Mesrobian, author of the William C. Morris finalist, Sex & Violence

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What Girls Are Made Of Reviews

3.5
“This book was absolutely devastating and touched parts of my soul I didn't expect. Reading this, I felt like a teenager again, and all the good, the bad, and the ugly parts that go along with it. Too many highlights to include, but here are some of my favorites. When I was fourteen, my mother told me there was no such thing as unconditional love. "I could stop loving you at any time," my mother said. "What could make you stop loving me?" I asked. "Oh, any number of things," she said. "But you wouldn't do any of them, so it doesn't matter." "Love for a woman," my mother said, "is always conditional on her beauty." I was so hungry, all the time. Always. I was a mouth, gaping and undone. I was a satchel, pulled apart and waiting to be filled. I was a chasm, a vortex, a winding endless funnel. I was the emptiness inside of things. I was the negative space. Fill me, feed me, give me shape. I wish we could drive forever, not because I like driving so much, but because this is perfect, or as close to perfect as I've ever felt- the weight and warmth of Seth's hand. The latte. The forethought and planning that went into today. The sensation of having been chosen, of being wanted. Of being exactly right. There's nowhere in our house to grab hold, to take purchase, to nestle and connect and grow. I hate it here, and every time I enter the front door I want to leave. "People don't change, Nina. Remember that." "As long as there have been women," Mom told me, "there have been ways to punish them for being women." We can believe things that are true, and we can believe things that are not true. Which is more important- what is true, or what we believe? "I'm no saint." "That's probably for the best. Things don't turn out so great for them most of the time." I'm more than any of the parts of me- I am more than my good parts, and more than my bad ones. I am more than my mistakes. I am more than my memories. I will say these words again and again, like an anthem, like a prayer, until I believe them. When I was fourteen, my mother told me there was no such thing as unconditional love. But I am not fourteen, and I am more than my mother's daughter.”

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