Butterfly

by Sonya Hartnett. Candlewick, c. 2010. 240 pages. ISBN 978-0763647605.

From LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers

Plum is awkward and uncomfortable in her body as she is poised unsteadily between being a child and becoming a woman. Her place in the hierarchy of her friends is precarious and her loneliness apparent to her housewife neighbor, Maureen. Convincing Plum to reinvent herself, Maureen becomes a friend and confidante but with motives Plum cannot readily see.

In the UK this book has been marketed as Hartnett’s first adult novel while in the US, it has been labeled young adult. While some LibraryThing Early Reviewers do not seem to agree that this is a YA book, I feel it is a shame they do not give teens more credit in their reading tastes, capabilities and experiences. Butterfly may be enjoyed by teen readers as well as adults--especially those women who can still remember those sharp pains of fear and loneliness during adolescence. Hartnett’s lyrical style of writing is clever at times but also often distracting. I am disappointed in the US choice in covers as it seems to be an unimaginative choice along with the title. For a writer whose prose is almost poetical, "Butterfly" is a bit of a letdown as title.