Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board review comes from Megan Reid on Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com… or just leave a comment below.

YAB Review: 'Vintage Veronica' By Erica S. Perl

First Impressions: The cover—with its polka-dotted background, cute sketch of a puffy ball gown, and lacy details—immediately struck me as different from the bulk of YA girl-targeted fiction: no facial close-ups, body parts, or pink to be found. It was cute and made me curious, as did the somewhat cryptic scene the publishers excerpted on the back: it gave away a minor plot point but didn’t reflect much about the characters or setting.

When Were You Hooked: I was drawn in almost right away. I loved the detailed descriptions of Veronica’s retro outfits and her consignment finds. Most of the story takes place at Veronica’s store and, as a former Boston-area college student, I can vouch that her descriptions of the Clothing Bonanza—based on Cambridge’s Garment District—were basically spot-on. Of course, you don’t need to know that to enjoy the story: even if readers aren’t particularly fashion-minded, the vividness of the setting is one of the book’s biggest achievements.

The Extras: Erica S. Perl’s website has links to Vintage Veronica’s Facebook page and book trailer. Besides a slightly longer description and author bio, neither told me much more about the book than I could get from the inside flap and back cover.

Final Verdict: Vintage Veronica was definitely not what I expected: it’s not quite the cutesy book the cover would suggest. I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to call it “edgy,” but the book does deal with much more than pretty dresses and feeling like a misfit. The basic plot involves Veronica trying to fit in with older, popular girls at work by making up stories about an awkward co-worker: it’s nothing particularly revolutionary, but I was surprised by some of the directions it took along the way. I must admit that I didn’t really care about the plot until I was able to “get” Veronica’s inner life. Rather than immediately presenting her as a heroine, I liked that Perl gave me time to get to know her character, and to warm up to her sarcasm and feistiness. By the end, Veronica felt real to me, and I found myself caring about her and Len (her earnest but cryptic love interest)—maybe even more so because certain characters, like hippie-stoner Bill, bitchy Amazonian alt-girl Zoe, could read like over-the-top caricatures

There are some things I really didn’t like: Veronica consistently ignores the seamstresses she works with, assuming that since they’re from “Haiti, El Salvador, Brazil” they’re not only loud, irritating, and clueless, but can’t speak English (They can). And at one point, Veronica describes a picture of a girl with her hair in tight pigtails as “smiling so hard that her eyes are almost closed, like she’s Chinese or something.” Um…okay…

Moments like these took away from the book’s non-stereotyped portrayal of a girl who self-identifies as “fat” and values the things about her that society sees as different. Though I admired a lot about the book overall and might encourage readers who are into fashion and non-mainstream coming-of-age stories to stick it out, in some ways, Vintage Veronica left me disappointed.

For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books & Print Channel sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publishers of Prince of Mist.

About Megan

Megan began writing fashion articles for her local newspaper at age 15, and her work has since appeared in publications like Boston magazine, Mountain Living and CosmoGirl. A former art history and theater student, Meg loves traveling, writing postcards, YA lit, learning to bake, and planning adventures. When she isn’t studying, she's probably dragging someone along on a late-night ice cream/Starbucks run. Meg has lived in four countries and six states, and is completing her M.A. in English at the Ohio State University. This is her second year as a Youth Advisory Board member.

Categorized under: Books & Print, Youth Advisory Board

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