Maybe it's just me...

the part of the country where I live, or the pre-teen girls I('ve) know(n), but this story made me kinda sad.

I mean, is this really what passes for "normal" in that demographic today, or is it just the personal outlook of those currently in control of publishing and reviewing the books, and writing them -- apparently from the perspective of memory, and experience in raising two teenage ... boys?

No wonder some kids can't be bothered reading, especially fiction. I'd hate for young girls -- with so many opportunities opening to them nowadays, if they're willing to work hard and compete honestly -- to think this is really what it's all about:

The main character and narrator is Vanessa Rothrock, the daughter of Elyssa Rothrock, the governor of Florida - it is fiction, after all - who is running for president. In all other respects, Vanessa is a more or less normal about-to-be-teenage girl.

She sweats out spelling bees, she watches Gilmore Girls, she worries about the size of her butt, she prays to "the Boob Fairy" to do something miraculous with her chest.

And she worries. God, does she worry. About whether Reginald Trumball is really interested in her and, incidentally, how her mother is doing in the Iowa caucuses.

Puberty can be hell.

Still, maybe it'll sell well among those poor girls currently being raised in some areas of Florida. (Where it seems your jingle and looks are what you're valued for.) Kinda the "Are you there God?, it's me Margaret" specific subset of "girl readers". (Though I liked Judy Blume, somehow I think plenty of us never connected with that character, either.)*

"This voice speaks to me," says Gephart. "It comes out naturally. I can hear the dialogue for this age. Maybe I'm still 12 years old at heart. I would never say that writing a book is easy, but I can connect with that age group and character."

For someone who grew up in Philadelphia, and made the public library her second home - her favorite book as a child was Mr. Popper's Penguins - publishing a novel is a particularly rewarding turn of events.
...
After getting an education degree at Penn State and ignoring it, she freelanced in the writing trade: funny greeting cards by the hundreds, essays in Family Circle and Parents magazines, poetry and stories in Highlights for Children
...
The Young Adult market is a growth market - all hail J.K. Rowling and her immortal creation! - and Gephart has made words her vocation as well as her avocation. Her husband, Daniel, works with them as well, as an editorial director at LRP publications, a newsletter company. "We play Scrabble almost every night."

They moved here 11 years ago from Philadelphia, with their two boys, Jake and Andrew. Andrew is in the ninth grade at Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Ominously, he likes to write.

"I'll bet (he'll) have more respect for me now, eh?" Gephart says. "Writing a book is nothing compared to raising two teenaged boys."

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*Or maybe, though I'd be loathe to admit it, some aspects of Madison living have rubbed off on me. In a good way, this expectation of what our girls are really capable of and can accomplish, if we only lay off the "normal" stereotypes.

One of my law professors here -- I think this is what I honestly liked best about her -- raised two obviously bright young women, one of whom scored perfect on her SATs. Somehow I bet she didn't waste much time bringing such fiction into the home, searching out instead other more challenging and encouraging materials.