Beige - Book Review

Beige
by Cecil Castellucci

What is it about:
Dad’s an aging L.A. punk rocker known as the Rat. Daughter’s a buttoned-up neat freak who’d rather be anywhere else. Can this summer be saved?

Now that she’s exiled from Canada to sunny Los Angeles, Katy figures she’ll bury her nose in a book and ignore the fact that she’s spending two weeks with her father — punk name: the Rat — a recovered addict and drummer for the famously infamous band Suck. Even though Katy doesn’t want to be there, even though she feels abandoned by her mom, even though the Rat’s place is a mess and he’s not like anything she’d call a father, Katy won’t make a fuss. After all, she is a nice girl, a girl who is quiet and polite, a girl who smiles, a girl who is, well, beige. Or is she?

What did I think of it:
I have yet to read a book by Castellucci that I do not love.

This is yet another great read.

I will confess that although I liked Katy, I didn't completely understand her. I mean: yes, I could understand her desire to be the nice girl, to not be noticed, to be left alone. I think that every introvert (teenager) will recognize these feelings in some way (I just never succeeded to be Beige, I was too weird for that it seemed). But how can anyone not like music!? It was her total indifference to music that baffled me. Music has always been a part of my life and helped shape my identity.

Luckily her indifference to music is part of the story line and gets more nuanced later on in the book. As with Boy Proof and The Queen of Cool this book is about finding your own voice and your place in the world. Although I feel most connected with Egg from Boy Proof, there were lots of things in Katy's story that I recognized as well. The story is touching and powerful.

I must say that I had wanted the book to end differently than it did, but that aside this is a wonderful read, that will take its place on my keeper shelves. I will also try to get my trotters on those books by Castellucci that I haven't read yet.

Why should you read it:
It's a really powerful YA read about finding your own voice.