Blake Nelson, Girl (1994)
Synopsis
The titular Girl we follow through this YA novel is teenager Andrea Marr. She was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She begins the book as an active participant in the popular high school sphere, dating a jock and frequenting the mall. This novel follows her growing interest and involvement in the underground, grungy Portland rock scene. She is guided by her rebellious friend Cybil, who shaves her head, starts a rock band, and shops at the coolest vintage stores. Cybil is also queer, and she finds her identity throughout the book. Andrea develops a crush on Todd, a cute rocker, further pulling her to the underground rock world. Through her exploration into alternative Portland culture, once-naive Andrea learns about love, sex, and “the real world.” She explores life outside of her comfort zone for the first time. We view the experience from her perspective. This novel reads as a diary from Andrea’s perspective, and her narration is written in teenage-speak. She, like, speaks like a teenager of the early 90s. There are many stylistic run-on sentences that immerse the reader into the thoughts of Andrea.
Essay
Girl is an undeniably Oregonian young adult novel. It is an exploration of early 90s Portland grunge culture through Portland teenager Andrea, written by Portland author Blake Nelson. This novel hits on one of the key themes of Oregon literature that this collection focuses on: community. The community in this novel is the grunge-rock scene of early 90s Portland. This subculture was a place for people who lay outside the norms to find community in each other. Because it was written by a Portland author who lived in Portland when he was the same age as Andrea, there is a very realistic element to this fictional community. This is an Oregonian novel in authorship, setting, and theme.
Girl was a big hit upon release. It is a cult classic with many teenage readers, as the protagonist Andrea captures their attitudes toward the world. For Portland teenagers, she feels even more familiar. She is a bit snarky, but also very lost when it comes to finding her place in the world. Though she exists within the popular clique at first, she does not feel like she belongs. She finds community with alternative friends in the Portland rock scene: a very common experience for teenagers as a whole. The diary-esque style of this novel is an important aspect of its relatability: the reader feels like they are seeing her personal thoughts. It is a casually written novel, written as a teenager would her own diary. This enhances Andrea’s relatability, and in turn, this novel’s popularity.
This novel is incredibly influenced by Oregon. The environment around Andrea is an important aspect to her growth. As a Portland teen in the early 90s, she has unique experiences that teens from other towns and other times do not. She came of age surrounded by grunge, thrift stores, rain, and drugs. Though many of those are constants in other cities, and other states, the grunge rock scene specific to 90s Portland is the integral setting that both creates challenges and solves them. This is also a space where Andrea’s best friend, Cybil, discovers her lesbian identity. Portland is a uniquely queer city, and it would not be wholly portrayed without queer inclusion.
Girl is an Oregonian young adult novel in authorship, setting, and influence. It is a worthwhile novel that gives new perspective and truth to an often underrepresented group: teenage girls. Andrea is a typical Portlandian teen, and this is a wonderful read for teens in Oregon that they not only relate to: they also learn about other perspectives on their environment and how to find/build a community where you belong.
Author Bio
Blake Nelson grew up in Portland, Oregon. He attended university in New York, but returned to Oregon. He still lives in Hillsboro today. In his early 20s, Nelson was an aspiring musician and songwriter. He shifted his focus to authorship in his mid 20s, when he began writing for Details magazine. Many of his articles explored the “slacker west-coast lifestyle.” His first novel, Girl, was published in 1994. It was originally serialized in Sassy magazine. Aside from Girl, perhaps his most well-known novel is Recovery Road (2011), which was adapted into a television drama by Disney in 2016. As an Oregon-based author, many of his novels are influenced by the Pacific Northwest in culture, perspective, and subject.
Further Reading
Blake Nelson, Dream School (2011)
- Girl Sequel, Same Author, YA Novel, Oregonian Protagonist
Blake Nelson, The City Wants You Alone (2015)
- Girl Sequel, Same Author, YA Novel, Oregonian Protagonist