I expected to like Belzhar, by Meg Wolitzer for a lot of reasons. I fell in love with Meg Wolitzer’s teenage characters in The Interestings this summer. Her grasp on teenage voice and teenage priorities made me wish for her to write something YA (since I got my wish maybe I should have asked for a million dollars instead). I also was super pumped about the connection to Sylvia Plath. Furthermore the idea of a boarding school specifically for “highly intelligent, emotionally fragile teenagers” tickled me. Don’t you wish you went to that school? I do…
Or at least I did, until I read the book and realized that different types of heartbreaking trauma are what got each of the characters sent to The Wooden Barn (and eventually into Belzhar). Anyway, I expected to like this book and I did. Here is why. Continue reading “Belzhar, by Meg Wolitzer”
Alison Doherty 