Product Description
Valerie Bernowski: broken-home princess, obsessive-compulsive perfectionist, and… Catholic school survivor?
Valerie Bernowski hates her school, her plaid uniform skirt, and her flat feathered hair. She also hates being teased and called “polock” so much, she tells everyone she’s Swedish.
When Valerie finds out her parents are getting divorced her world turns upside down. She begins to rebel against the Catholic faith and the ones … More >>
So many YA novels about prep school, crusty, upper-class boarding schools….but no Catholic schoolgirl stories until now! I loved how this book was written as short stories that intertwined to tell a complete tale about Valerie’s life growing up as a Catholic adolescent. The narrator’s voice is engaging and the character’s conflicts compelling as the story flashes back to her grade school years and later as an adult. We understand why Val is the way she is coming from such a dysfunctional family. The happy ending was worth the brutal sadness Valerie endured growing up in a domestic violence home. If you like the Gossip Girls series,, you will love this one better.Gossip Girl Boxed Set
Rating: 5 / 5
Michelle Kane writes an eye-opening book that takes the reader into the real world of a Catholic school. Many stereotypes about the sainthood and sweetness of young Catholic girls are broken in Valarie Bernowski’s account of growing up Polish, Catholic, and without a father in the house. Her innocent antics become more sophisticated as her rage against her life builds. Set in the seventies and eighties, it portrays life in the crux of change when family values were being questioned by the younger generation.She rebels against her Catholic teachings and refuses to confirm herself. This causes a rift with her devout Catholic single mom. Her older sister, Rachel, chooses to live with her dad until he explodes into a rage and beats her up. He’s a con man and a liar. Valarie has his number from day one. Broken promises and broken dreams lead to the climax where straight A, compulsive obsessive Val discovers the truly devastating side of life.
Kane tells this tragic story with humor and the book ends on a triumphant note. Valarie remains true to herself in spite of all the odds that life threw her way. This book is a fun read and a page turner.
Rating: 5 / 5
Being a Catholic school survivor myself, and from divorced parents, I could really relate to this book. Many pop culture references to the ’80s that made me laugh out loud, and scenes with the main character’s father that left tears on the pages.
I was expecting a book just about nuns, creepy priests, and school, but it was so much more. Can’t wait to see the movie version!
Rating: 5 / 5
If you are looking for chick-lit or an edgy young-adult novel, this book crosses into many genres. It could be realistic fiction, even “autobiographical.”
The narrator, Valerie faces many obstacles growing up in a single-parent home and her Catholic upbringing contradicts what is learned at home and at school. If you are also a “Catholic school survivor” or currently a “private school princess” you will love this book. Readers get up and close and personal with our story’s hero and “watch” her grow as a young girl, to a confused teen, and finally……you’ll have to read to find out!
Rating: 5 / 5
I think if you grew up Catholic like I did and went to a parochial school, then you will identify and love this character driven novel. Such a unique voice that’s unlike those cliquey, “gossipy” and phony YA novels, this book deals with the realism of growing up in a dysfunctional family and sifting through the hypocratic garbage that surrounds a teen girl’s life. Heartbreaking at times, I laughed and cheered for the protagonist (Valerie) to find her faith and some peace of mind.
Rating: 5 / 5