This story epitomizes high school years for those students who are trying to figure out who they are and yearning to feel wanted. It's not so typical though that a female student fall for her female art teacher and that's what made the plot interesting.
This book defies social norms we all grew up learning; what's right, what's wrong, what's expected. The main character Kim, nicknamed Skim, asks herself questions like the ones listed above while trying to find out why she always feels so awkward. She doesn't fit in with the popular clic, her bestfriend is kind of a freak, she seems backward because to me she just didn't feel comfortable in her own skin.
On her quest for love, she does what all young people do when they're first starting to develop for another. She panics and she doesn't know how to handle it especially since her first love isn't like anybody else's in her school.
At the end of the book she befriends a popular girl who is dealing with the suicide of her boyfriend. I think this symbolized her being able to relate to someone, not because of the actual suicide, but because the rumor was he did it because he was gay. Skim doesn't focus on trying to comfort Katie by bringing up her boyfriend every conversation. She just talks to her like a normal person and it makes Katie feel better by not having to deal with that considering that's all her other friends talk about.
This book is about the journey of discovering yourself.
I never thought about the relation between Skim and Katie both having issues with sexuality. Do you think this is common in alot of schools now? Maybe this book shows a side of society that has been afraid for years to be talked about but finally is? I know from personal experience more people I know are coming out being gay than every before, my sister for an example. Maybe if she would have read this book growing up things would have been easier on her.
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