Calling Maggie May

by Anonymous

Overview

A dark and edgy first-person cautionary tale about how one girl’s seemingly minor choices quickly spiraled into a life as a sex worker in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky.

She had a normal life, until one small decision changed everything. Suddenly, there were new possibilities and new experiences.

But not all of those experiences were good.

Read her shocking story in the diary she left behind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481439015
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	06/23/2015
Series:	Anonymous Diaries Series
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	655,839
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	HL780L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

A Simon & Schuster author.

Read an Excerpt

Calling Maggie May

Wed, Sept 17

Swim meet: First place in the freestyle today! And second in backstroke.

Calculus test: 97%

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2015
Gr 10 Up—In this first-person diarylike novel in the tradition of Go Ask Alice, Maggie lives an ordinary life, which consists of going to school and coming home to her controlling parents. That predictable routine changes when she becomes entangled with Ada Calver. Ada has it all and is everything that Maggie isn't—gorgeous, confident, and self-assured. The teens become friends, and Maggie learns the real reason Ada seems mature and experienced: Ada is a prostitute. Maggie also gets involved with sex trafficking, and her old life starts to fall apart. She's failing school and fighting with her parents; her life has completely transformed. Can Maggie turn herself around before it's too late? Though the sympathetic protagonist is a typical high school girl, she is painted as overly naïve, someone who always makes the wrong decision. Every choice she makes drives her deeper and deeper down a dark hole. There's no real lightbulb moment for Maggie, and through her diary, readers have to follow the doomed path. There's no character growth, and the book seems to offer teens a story of destruction rather than a cautionary tale. Nevertheless, this is an important, eye-opening read for young adults. VERDICT For a better look into the harsh realities of the dark world of child prostitution, recommend Nicole Maggi's The Forgetting (Sourcebooks) and E.R. Frank's Dime (S. & S., both 2015) instead.—Caitlin Wilson, Brooklyn Public Library

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