Danielle Reads

The Princesses of Iowa

By M. Molly Backes

Published: May 8, 2012
Candlewick, 464 pages

What does it mean to do wrong, when no one punishes you? A smart and unflinching look at friendship, the nature of entitlement, and growing up in the heartland. Paige Sheridan has the perfect life. She's pretty, rich, and popular, and her spot on the homecoming court is practically guaranteed. But when a night of partying ends in an it-could-have-been-so-much-worse crash, everything changes. Her best friends start ignoring her, her boyfriend grows cold and distant, and her once-adoring younger sister now views her with contempt. The only bright spot is her creative writing class, led by a charismatic new teacher who encourages students to be true to themselves. But who is Paige, if not the homecoming princess everyone expects her to be? In this arresting and witty debut, a girl who was once high-school royalty must face a truth that money and status can't fix, and choose between living the privileged life of a princess, or owning up to her mistakes and giving up everything she once held dear.
- Amazon.com Description

THIS. BOOK. I can't even.

The Princesses of Iowa is one of those books that completely wraps you up in its characters and plot. It draws you in until your mind is just as tangled in the book's events as the character is. Your mind identifies so strongly with the protagonist that you feel like she is you, or at least your closest friend. It is rare for a book to pull me in this deeply. But let me tell you, this book did.

Paige is, on the outside, a typical popular high school senior and future Homecoming Queen, until she returns to school after a drunk driving accident the year before and begins to doubt the life she's always planned for herself is actually the life she wants. She begins branching out through her creative writing class and discovering that there is, shockingly, more to life than being everyone else's idea of 'perfect'.

I connected with Paige throughout the whole story. I remembered my own high school experience where I, too, decided that popularity and being well-liked was really not as important as I thought, even if my epiphany came much less dramatically than Paige's. 

I don't know how to express how phenomenal this book is without giving away the whole plot. So please, just take my word that this is truly a fantastic novel, especially for a debut! The language flows beautifully and Paige's narration has such a strong voice. I am so thrilled by M. Molly Backes' work here.