Johanna Morrigan, age 14, lives in '90s-era Wolverhampton, England, with her parents and four siblings (including two babies without names, known long-term as the Unexpected Twins). They are all on government assistance or benefits. Her mother is depressed and her father still clings to his rock-star dreams. Johanna is desperate to leave behind Wolverhampton, benefits and her virginity.
Her big chance comes when she's filmed for TV, reading her prize-winning poem on the theme of "Friendship," but it goes awry when she surprises even herself with a shameful impromptu Scooby-Doo impression. Being Johanna Morrigan is a losing proposition, so she sets about methodically building the girl she wants to be: Dolly Wilde, music critic.
Johanna's Dolly Wilde is constructed on the music of Hole, Bikini Kill, David Bowie and Kate Bush; the writing of Dorothy Parker, Orwell and Kerouac; and a blind ambition to reach London. She sends in one album review per day for 27 days until, amazingly, she is hired by Disc and Music Echo. Dolly's first encounter with live music ushers in an era of drink, sex and eventually drugs; she happily pursues the lifestyle of the rock stars she admires, but is challenged to reconcile this new life with her household back at home in Wolverhampton.
To fall in love with the clumsily charming, heartbreaking Johanna, readers will want to check their inhibitions regarding four-letter words and masturbation, but Caitlin Moran (How to Be a Woman) is cheeky, intelligent, thought-provoking and laugh-out-loud funny. This novel (her first) reminds us that we are always learning and rebuilding, no matter our origins. --Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia