"Fine coming of age tale"

Beaner O'Brian has decided that she is no longer a child, but instead she is fifteen year old Harriet who is ready for boys. She toils with a summer school paper on what she anticipates as an easy topic for how hard is it to write a five thousand word essay about the opposite sex. She knows she cannot depend on her stepmother who seems more childish than she nor her older sister Molly who's in a nuptial trance with her wedding date coming soon. Her father is a good example of the older generation salivating over the next era as proven by his marriage to a decade plus younger bimbo.

Beaner realizes her understanding of males ranges somewhere in negative numbers. For instance, Eugene tells her she is "harmless", the type of girl to talk to about other girls he desires. Faris, her father's intern at the TV show he produces, shows interest in Harriet, but she remains in denial feeling cursed by her lack of perception. Of course there is Antonio. As Beaner, call me Harriet, begins to date, she wonders if the male of the species is a cosmic joke?

With the exception of the stepmother who is supposed to provide comic relief but instead slows down the perceptive tale as if she is from Ork, the cast make for a fine coming of age tale in which Beaner call me Harriet struggles to find the truth about boys. Her observations and woes lead to a sudden popularity yet no insight. Middle school readers will appreciate the amusing observations of Harriet as she struggles with what it is all about guys.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 30, 2004