Girls in Trucks (Katie Crouch)

I'm not exactly sure why I decided to read Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch.  The cover looked nice (there I go, judging a book by its cover again!) and it seemed like a good summer read.  However, we have been lacking "summer weather" here in Northern Ontario, so I didn't have very many beautiful days to sit outside and read.

The book is about a girl named Sarah Walters, who is born into a "debutante society" called the Camellias.  (For those of you who don't know much about debutantes, don't worry.  All I know about debutantes I learned from Gilmore Girls.  And there wasn't even much about debutantes in Gilmore Girls, so I basically knew nothing.)  Basically, Sarah was brought up in this society where girls were taught to be ladies and generations of rules are passed down in order to help prepare the girls for life with a good husband.  Sarah is a good girl who does not spend her whole life making good choices. 

I wish I were the graceful sort.  I was trained to be. "Never chase men or buses," my mother told me.  "Another one will always come along."  Still, I always run after the subway, and when men go, I follow."  (p. 125, Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch)

Each chapter throughout the book gives you a sneak peak into her life at a certain time.  Chapter one starts out when she is a young, elementary school student and the final chapter shows you her life at the age of thirty-five.  I found that because this was how the book was written, despite getting to look into what her life is like, there are a few missing pieces.  Different chapters also deal with different friends or family, so I was left feeling like I didn't really know how everyone's story had turned out... But I guess that could also be what makes a book a good one - I can pick my own endings for some of the characters.

The main themes were love, loss, family and friendship.  Coming from Sarah's point of view, you can see how she changes and remains the same over the years.  It showed the evolution of different relationships and friendships in her life.  They were the kind of events that readers could relate to. 

There were many quotable quotes throughout the book, one of my favourite being:

"Sometimes, what we all need is for the plain, good-hearted person to win."

I enjoyed the book.  It shouldn't have taken me as long to read it as it did - It has just been a busy enough summer (plus, I always feel more like reading when I can go sit outside and the weather has definitely not been cooperating this month).  The book was an easy-to-read, good summer book.  I would read other Katie Crouch books in the future.