Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott is a writer I discovered in college and immediately loved so I'll read anything she writes. Crooked Little Heart is the middle book of the "Rosie" series but the first one I read. I loved the inner life of the characters; we get equal glimpses into both Elizabeth and Rosie's life. Anne Lamott often gives her characters her own biography to some degree: like Anne Lamott, the Fergusons live in the East Bay, alcoholism and church play formative roles in their lives. I'm unsure if Anne Lamott is a tennis pro, but Rosie is and there are long descriptions of important tennis matches that even I, someone with zero knowledge of tennis, could follow and enjoy. 

I read a criticism of Crooked Little Heart that complained "nothing happens." This is sort of true. But this book is about adolescence and in adolescence, nothing needs to happen for a lot to happen. Rosie changes and grows in major ways without major changes to her fairly stable life. There is a suspense theme that may be too heavy handed for some readers, but I felt it mirrored the adolescent experience: some things feel big and scary and amount to nothing much at all. I loved growing up with Rose in this book. 

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