MYRTLE OF WILLENDORF

Looking back over her high school days, nail-biting, wisecracking Myrtle reflects on the true nature of friendship. Invited by Margie to join a coven composed of several other teenage misfits, Myrtle embarks on a path of self-discovery that pits her individuality against the pressure to conform. Along the way she meets a cast of eccentric oddballs ranging from her college roommate Jada, an annoyingly self-possessed and smugly thin young woman intent on giving Myrtle the perfect makeover; Goat, Jada’s to-die-for significant other; and Sam, an artist-cum-restaurateur. O’Connell’s dialogue and character development are both sharp as a tack, delivering plenty of laugh-aloud scenes that capture the angst of adolescence from the perspective of an intriguing and wryly introspective young woman. This is a heroine who finds reading The Runaway Bunny as an adult to be a life-changing event. As Myrtle learns to recognize and value the Goddess in herself, she provides proof positive that self-understanding can come from even the strangest combination of circumstances. (Fiction. YA)