Trinkets

Trinkets are items that are shoplifted to raise the spirit. Our three narrators have been remanded to Shoplifter’s Anonymous for their beliefs in action. They are an unlikely trio with sadness and pain. Moe is a girl whose parents died and who has accepted the thug role by default. Her next door neighbor is a popular boy who visits her at night but does not acknowledge her during the day. Elodie is unsure of herself. She feels alone, although she is friends with a popular girl by default. Her mother has died and she isn’t so sure about her stepmother. Tabitha is the princess. “Everyone secretly hates a princess.”

This a charming YA novel. As such, the plot comes together a bit too neatly for me. But the writing is lively and witty, and the characters convince us that the plot is not unlikely. Each of the three girls has behavior that is unlovely at times. they all three suffer from the high school disorder of feeling fraudulent and alone within their chosen roles. The device of shoplifting is cleverly developed. I enjoyed the book far more than I thought that I might. It made for a pleasant couple of hours, and it resonated in many well phrased scenes.

Kirsten Smiths Trinkets achieves an unexpected feat. I didnt ever expect to sympathize with shoplifting Portland teen girls, but I did. Not only that, I full-on fell in love with the quasi-criminal trio with their distinct voices, their shameless pop dance parties, and the wonderfully unlikely development of their friendship.

The respect Smith has for the struggles/turmoil/realities of life as a teenage girl and the way she portrays them with such remarkable authenticity never ceases to awe me. I often forget what it felt like to be that age, but as soon as I dove into the inner worlds of Elodie, Moe, and Tabitha, I was there. Some of my favorite lines–

On crushes: “I’ll just sit here and think about how much it sucks we can’t hang out and how much I hate him even though I dont. AGH! SO REAL.
On friendship: “I should be able to tell them the sky is magenta or whatever, and they should believe me.” PREACH.
On painted toenails: Little blue smurf turds. (Had to include that one because it made me laugh so hard and felt exactly like something one of my best friends would say.)

This book is like Voodoo Donuts delicious, devourable, and utterly unique.

Good read

I bought it because I loved the Netflix show, and though I did see some.of their essence on this characters, there’s so much more on the show. Even the way it’s written felt rushed. I have to say I like the show a lot more.

Granddaughter love the shows so the book is perfect review.

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