Story of a Girl    by Sara Zarr Order:  USA  Can Little, Brown & Co., 2007 (2007) Hardcover     Reviewed by Lyn Seippel It sucks to be Deanna Lambert. At thirteen her dad catches her in the back seat of a car with her older brother's best friend Tommy. Two years later he still refuses to look at her even when they are in the same room. At school where Tommy has spread his own lurid version of the event she is called slut or nympho. No wonder she can't wait to get out of Pacifica, the small town where she lives with her parents. Her brother Darren and his wife live in the basement with their new baby, adding another layer to her dysfunctional family. When school is out for the summer Deanna finds a job in a local pizzeria. She looks forward to being out of the house so she doesn't have to face her dad, and she can save all the money she earns. But when she takes the job she doesn't realize that Tommy, who has now graduated, works there too. She stays in spite of his harassment, determined not to give up a job that will allow her to leave home sooner. Tough on the outside but tender and lonely inside, Deanna painfully withstands her dad's evident repugnance and never-ending disappointment. She struggles to hold on to enough self esteem to keep going. Sara Zarr's poignant novel is about forgiveness and how being unwilling to forgive can wreck a family. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews