I absolutely adored Eleanor & Park. Adored. So I was terribly excited to read her newest young adult novel, Fangirl.This is a charming young adult novel--a bit slighter than Eleanor & Park--but a charming novel nonetheless about twin sisters Cath and Wren starting college and going their own separate ways.
The story is told mostly from the perspective of Cath, the shyer, more awkward sister, and portrays her struggle with social anxiety with vivid realism. Cath is a huge Simon Snow fan and has been writing Simon Snow fanfiction for years. She's built up a huge fan base, but is feeling unexpectedly challenged by her fiction-writing class. She has to figure out how to balance her love of writing fanfiction with writing fiction, and how to be her own person at college. As always, Rowell writes wonderfully vivid characters and touchingly realistic situations.
After a controversy erupted here in a local school district about her book Eleanor & Park (check out Linda Holmes's wonderful Monkey See blog for a great rundown on the whole situation), Rowell came to Minnesota for an author visit and I am very happy to report that she is every bit as delightful as her books. If you ever get the chance to see her speak, I highly recommend it!