“The Paper Girl of Paris” by Jordyn Taylor

 

384 pages, HarperTeen, ISBN-13: 978-0062936646

So, one night I popped in to Barnes & Noble ‘cause I had a hankering for their Lady Godiva chocolate cheesecake and saw a sign saying that this book, The Paper Girl of Paris by Jordyn Taylor, was a mere five bucks with purchase and, since I was, in fact, purchasing, I bought it – not knowing that it was published by Harper’s teen imprint. Sooooo…okay; in some ways this is apparent, as when Alice (our 16-year-old protagonist) complains about her appearance, or her inability to attract a boy at school or, when she does catch the eye of a dreamy French guy she gushes along with her friends (via email). All of which is embarrassing and not a little irritating; just get on with the story, will ya?

So, what is the story? Well, it’s this: 16-year-old Alice is spending the summer in Paris with her family after having inherited an apartment from her grandmother that nobody in the family even knew existed. An apartment that has been empty for more than seventy years. Alice is determined to find out why the apartment was abandoned and why her grandmother never once mentioned the family she left behind when she moved to America after World War II. But this is also the story of 16-year-old Adalyn – Alice’s great aunt whom she never heard of – and her life during the German occupation of France and her role in the French Resistance. Both stories of two very different 16-year-old girls are told in tandem as one searches the past of the other.

Right. How was it? Considering that I am well outside of the target demographic for this book, I thought it was pretty good. I think that it is, obviously, written with teens in mind – teens girls especially – and most of the characters are paper-thin in their development: geeky American girl, cute French boy, evil German officer, not-so-bad German officer, brave Resistance fighters…just about every character is interchangeable and doesn’t stand out. But the struggle against the Nazis in Paris is brought to life for young people, while the mystery of what happened to Alice’s unknown French family is at last solved in the end – a surprisingly tragic end. So, yeah, The Paper Girl of Paris was okay; if I were a teen girl I’m sure I’d appreciate it more.