Easy

After her parent's divorce, Jessica is dying for attention... she quickly finds that one of the easiest ways to get attention happens to be from boys. Jessica's mother has turned inward, her father is now living with the woman that helped break their marriage apart, her sister has become their mother's shoulder to cry on, and Jessica... well she is left to her own devices. While at first her 'flirtation' in her need for attention is innocent, Jessica finds herself becoming more adventurous. But Kerry Hoffmann's debut novel is not just about a young teenager looking for attention in the wrong places - Kerry also explores the rippling affects of divorce, growing up, and the introduction of sex. "He hoots as he passes. Another one whistles. I know this is stupid, inviting trouble. But it feels so good to be wanted, I can't help myself."The attention Jessica gets from boys soon becomes like an addiction, leaving her craving for more. That is until she starts to see the consequences of her actions. She finds herself more and more isolated, despite her found attention, from her family and even her best friend. Jessica starts to gain a reputation at school - one that many may not necessarily dream of. Then there is the big "V" card... Jessica finds out how special it really is... "Everyone says your first time should be magical. You should be in love. You should feel safe. Because you can't go back once you've done it. That will always be your first time. Years later this is what I'll remember as my first time. That inflated sensation is long gone. Now I just feel nauseous; it is the feeling I get when reality dawns."Kerry Hoffmann's debut novel is a fresh read, exploring the reality of the teenage mind without holding back any gritty details. While Kerry's honesty may be too much for some, I found the truth in Jessica's actions to be a mirror of reality - something that is not done enough. At the same time, Kerry has found the perfect balance of reality of hopefulness, neither going to dark or too light. I cannot go without mentioning her writing, as it flows with ease, making Easy an 'easy' (no pun intended) yet enjoyable read.

Is there such a thing as a perfect book? If not, Kerry Cohen Hoffmann's debut young adult novel Easy comes very close. "At the ripe young age of fourteen Jessica has discovered that getting the attention she wants is just that--easy."Jessica's passion for photography has been replaced with a new obsession--boys. She soon discovers that getting attention from them is easy, easier than getting it from her broken-hearted mother, clueless father and older sister. And It's certainly easier than finding that perfect photograph for a national contest--a self-portrait. As Jess says in the opening chapter, "How can I take a self-portrait if I don't know who I am anymore?"As the jacket describes, "In this compelling and often harrowing novel for teen readers, first-time author Kerry Cohen Hoffmann delves into the mind of a teenage girl as she attempts to replace the shifting relationships with friends and family with sexual exploration. With candid storytelling rooted in years of personal experience, Ms. Hoffmann offers a searing look at how easy it is to take a wrong turn in search for the right answers."Harrowing, compelling. Those might well be understatements. Very rarely does a novel so grip me I feel emotionally spent after. I delight in those books, in that stretch of time as I stare at the final words with tears on my cheeks. I wish for the story to go on, yet somehow the final moment is perfect. Another word, another scene would somehow ruin the magic. This is Kerry's book. Magical.For one, Kerry has tremendous skill with prose. Her writing is all at once startlingly clear, yet dense. Take this scene, for example. Jessica and her older sister Anne have just had dinner with their father and his new girlfriend, Dana. "After dinner we walk into Dad's apartment. It's strange to see all his things, all the stuff he bought when he moved in. I pull my digital out of my pocket and eye the room through the screen. A one-bedroom with a foldout futon for a couch. A TV. A desk with Dad's computer. A kitchen table with four metal-legged chairs. "Dana shows up on the screen. I follow her with the lens. She walks into the kitchen, opens a cabinet, and pulls out a glass, knowing where everything is. She flips her blond hair over a shoulder and turns on the tap to fill her glass. She is comfortable here. "Dad enters the screen. He comes up beside Dana, puts a hand on the small of her back, just above her [...] He knows where everything is too. I glance over at Anne to see if she's watching, but she is already sitting on the futon, her bag on her lap, putting on her I-hate-being-here-so-let's-just-get-this-over-with look. She didn't say one word during dinner."The purpose seems to be to establish setting, yet it's done in such a vivid way (through the camera) it has meaning for Jess and her photography. Simple description melds with theme. And although these three paragraphs are all about Dad, Dana, Anne, I feel a deeper understanding of Jess as well.This leads me to the realness of the characters. After my initial read, I thought they, particularly Jess and her best friend Elisabeth, were too mature, but I have since reconsidered. Compared to how I was at fourteen, yes, these girls sounded like walking self-help books. But I think Kerry has hit on how young people are changing, maturing more quickly than they did ten years ago--too quickly. Thanks to Oprah and our overpsychologized culture, I think young people are able to speak a langue of psychological maturity--without the actual maturity. Kerry sees this and makes it vivid in Easy.Hoffmann's Easy will be one of those Important Books for many young women. To be honest, I wish I'd had it when I was fourteen. Yet I hope parents will use discretion (as I believe they should with all books their children read). This is not a book for the very young, be it in age or innocence. It is for the young woman who, as too many are, is looking for ways to fill emptiness, and is looking in the wrong places.

Excellent book. Kerry Cohen Hoffman is a master storyteller. I can't wait to read what she writes next.

I understand the dialogue of what was going on in the story. Kerry have written the best story that has been ever published

It's a great view of an adolescent girl growing up and trying to fit in the public eye through her sexuality.

Kerry Cohen has rewritten her memoir story into a shortened somewhat fanciful cautionary tale for teen girls. It certainly maybe useful to warn girls that settling for sex when they long for love and acceptance may result in feelings of shame and rejection by the very boys or men they seek to please. The book's ending is the fanciful part and I won't be a spoiler and mention how Cohen resolves her tale.

This book was actually pretty good, I wish it wasn't so short though. I would have like for Tiffany and Jessica to have become friends again but that would have been too much of a happy ending right.