Evolution of a Smart Girl

• Main Author: Lefante, Casey
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2008
• Subjects: Barbie; Brothers; Creative Writing; Evolution; Fiction; Games; MFA; New Orleans; Ovarian Cancer; Sexuality; Sisters
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/682; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1682&context=td

Evolution of a Smart Girl is a collection of short stories that chronicles the evolution of the modern American female. The stories are arranged in three parts: "Dirty Barbie & Breakable Boys" focuses on adolescent relationships between boys and girls; "Some Things Can't Be Unbroken" centers on Maggie and Charlie Copper's marriage after Maggie is diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of twenty-five; and "Of Apples and Broken Scabs" presents four stories about four very different women who experience heartbreak in love, friendship, and lust. This work explores the ways in which a girl's interactions with others shape her into the young woman she becomes. Through same-sex friendships, romantic relationships, and sibling rivalries, the women in these stories experience intellectual and sexual awakenings.