Schoolgirl

Schoolgirl was first published more than a decade before Catcher in the Rye, but many of its preoccupations- the dislocation of adolescence, the stifling weight of cultural expectations, the unreliability of adults, the difficulty of authentic expressions of individuality- are remarkably similar. Where Schoolgirl contrasts sharply from Catcher, however, is in how its narrator responds to the tumult of adolescence: Where Holden outwardly rebels, Schoolgirl's narrator sticks closely to the script expected of her from her mother, teachers, and friends, even though it is entirely at odds with the dictates of her inner monologue. Her angst lives silently inside her.