Justine, Becka, Robin, Polly, and Ann each know that fashion is more than wearing the right clothes. Fashion is all about staking a claim to your "youness." Each girl has her own fashion obsession and each girl struggles to express her inner self so the world doesn't pass her by but takes notice. These five girls might not be friends and they might not have the right words to say, but what they do know is that the right clothes can reveal their secret hopes and fears and that fashion can give them the strength to be the person they want to be.
TALES FROM MY CLOEST by Jennifer Anne Moses is filled with snarky teen-attitude, fabulous clothes, stark emotion, and enough girl-power to change the world. Told through all five points of view, the story kicks off with Justine. It is her arrival to West Fall and her vintage Scott Paper Caper dress that gets the entire school talking. The other four girls are then introduced through their initial meeting with Justine and her unique fashion sense. I really enjoyed that each chapter was from a different point of view. Each voice is as unique as the girls' style and the problems they face in their lives.
While fashion does play a large role, TALES FROM MY CLOSET doesn't shy away from hard issues. Infidelity, alcohol and drug abuse, neglect, suicide, physical abuse, and death are issues these girls deal with throughout the story. Author Jennifer Anne Moses does a fabulous job of handling these issues from an authentic perspective. The issues are emotionally heavy and that pain comes through, but there is humor and hope which underlies even the darkest moments. This isn't a story of being a fashion obsessed group of teens. TALES FROM MY CLOSET is a story about finding the person you want to be and having the courage to be that person in a world that will try to make you conform.
I thoroughly enjoyed TALES FROM MY CLOSET (even being the unfashionable mom that I am) because each character was unique and author Jennifer Anne Moses portrayed each girl with the perfect details and perfect style. The alternating points of view worked to tell each individual story but they always connected back to the larger theme of self-discovery and friendship. TALES FROM MY CLOSET is a fun, fast story that shows teen girls as they are; complicated, intelligent, afraid, but still ready to take on the world.
Five girls. A paper dress. Tons of shoes. One unforgettable raincoat. White Jeans. Secrets. Drama. Friends? For Justine, Bianca, Becka, Polly, and Anne, living in Westfield, New Jersey is "life on planet toilet paper." At least that's how Justine feels when she shows up as the new girl in school wearing a Scott Paper Caper dress. To her, it's a super-original fashion statement. But other "loser freaks" don't agree. The other girls have their own fashion issues, ranging from fabulous boots to raggedy pajamas to what to wear to therapy. Told in alternating voices, TALES FROM MY CLOSET follows the stories of high school kids who have nothing in common--and everything in common. They're at war with each other, but through their clothes, they reveal and conceal themselves and make peace with what it means to be a teen. Over the course of a school year, their individual struggles and successes come together to tell a story that's funny, honest, and all-girl fabulous.
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