She is the only girl in the whole entire school, practically, with pigtails. She walks stiff, like a German soldier, and she has pigtails. She might not like me because I’m on the skinny side. She has been to Disneyland about a thousand times.Īl is a little on the fat side, which is why I didn’t like her right at first. What does she see in a dope like that? Al said. It’s not so much, she saidĪnd that dopey guy who always plays with her. She has been to Hollywood where she saw them making a movie. She said the next time she goes on one she will bring me one of the little plastic dishes of jelly and stuff they give you. She has been on an airplane a lot of times. Where is that?Īl explained to me that L.A. She has lived on the Coast, among other places. She has lived in a lot of different places. She said Call me Al and it wasn’t until I saw her report card that I found out her name was Alexandra.
There’s a new girl moved down the hall from us. (Hopefully that last part would seem pretty dated to millennials, though.) Most interestingly, though, Al is seen only through the eyes of a narrator, a classmate whose name we never learn, a point of view that underscores the importance of Al's persona: she's affecting the people around her as she declares her nonconformity. She wrestles with loneliness from eating alone while her divorced mom dates around, with questions about why her dad sends cards and money but never visits, and why girls aren't allowed to take shop. "The shoes on my feet / I bought 'em!" In short, Al rocks pretty hard as a role model, but she also deals very realistic doubts and fears. Al's word for it is "nonconformist", but it really boils down to "I refuse to look a certain way just because society says that's what's 'pretty'" and "I buy my own sweaters!" in the manner of Destiny's Child singing about buying their own diamond rings. Re-reading this book for the first time in almost two decades, I have to believe this was probably one of the first books I read with a truly feminist message.
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