Independent Reading: Getting the Girl. Entry 1

Part 1 - Frying Pan

Summary (Chapter 1-11 [P. 3-103])

            Susan Juby’s novel, Getting the Girl, follows the adventures of 9th grade student, Sherman Mack, in his investigation of ‘defiling’ at Harewood Tech High School. Sherman is described as a nerdy, unsociable person, but is shown to be generally caring toward females, especially of his 10th grade friend, Dini Trioli. When rumors arise that Dini’s boyfriend, Lester Broadside, is responsible for the ‘Defiling’ and subsequent social ruination of former Harewood school girls, Sherman decides to investigate the matter. To aid him, Sherman draws support from his friends, Rick and Vanessa, and from his mentor, Fred, who lend him advice and assistance in his investigation.

            Knowing the dark nature of the matter, Sherman consults the school’s drug dealer, Ed the Head, who refers him to one of the former Defiled girls, Farrah Fawcett. Upon meeting Farrah, Sherman grew suspicious when Farrah revealed she used to date Lester, and feels pity for her, as she was once a vivacious girl before becoming ‘D-listed’. Resolved to take action, Sherman puts forth an operation to improve his standing with Dini, but results in failure and distances him further away from her instead. The next day, a picture of Sherman meeting with Farrah –marked in the corner with a D- mysteriously appears in Sherman’s class, leaving him and his friends shaken, and disheartens them from continuing the case, considering the photo a warning.

Analytical Paragraph

            In Susan Juby’s novel, Getting the Girl, the story is written from Sherman’s perspective, which is characterized by short thoughts and frequent output of his opinions. This style is suitable as a voice of a ninth grader and helps the reader connect a greater understanding of his character and the nature of his actions. Sherman is shown to be very interested in cooking and sometimes uses food as a medium of expression; such as ‘Vanessa made a little lemon-tasting face’ (Juby 40), when he was discussing about defiling with Vanessa. This brings the reader to see more through Sherman’s perspective than if he had simply said ‘Vanessa made a sour face’. Altogether, Susan Juby spices up the plot by adding a characteristic twist that resonates with the readers.

Interactive Response

            In this interactive entry, I will go more in detail on the background information of Sherman’s high school. Harewood Tech hosts the usual school system of social popularity, such as: jocks, Trophy Wives (will explain in a future entry), and scholars; however, it contains another other class of people called the Defiled. Seemingly only happening to females, it is when a female’s picture, with a D written over it, is posted in all student bathrooms. From that point, bad rumors are spread about that girl and everybody except, the teachers, ignore her, almost in an erasing manner. I find this as fitting case that Sherman would have a motive to solve, given his considerateness toward all girls. Even with this portion of the plot explained, there remains a large amount of peripheral information in the story that’s uncovered. To fully grasp what Susan Juby has created, there is no substitute for reading the novel itself.