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In Dana
Reinhardt's How to Build a House, high school students
drink alcohol, make out at parties, sneak into nightclubs,
and have casual sex with near strangers. On the surface, it
sounds like a slim volume of a Gossip Girl book, but
in reality, it is as far from Gossip Girl as one could
imagine.
Instead,
the teens in Reinhardt's latest novel are the sort of kids
parents wish they could show off as their own. For example,
main character Harper Evans is a smart teenager who institutes
a recycling program at her high school, corrects people's
grammar, and strictly follows rules. And when the book opens,
she's on her way to the small town of Bailey, Tennessee, where
she will spend the summer with other teenagers, building a
house for the victims of a tornado.
But Harper's
motives for going to the hot, muggy South aren't all so altruistic.
In fact, she's using the trip as the chance to flee her Los
Angeles hometown and the people therein. Unlike the houses
in Bailey, Harper's own home was torn apart when her father
and stepmother divorced, alienating Harper both physically
and emotionally from the stepfamily she loved—most especially
from her beloved stepsister, Tess. Confused and anguished,
Harper throws herself at her best friend Gabriel, who thinks
nothing of the physical relationship they develop and ultimately
betrays her.
What
happens to Harper in Tennessee is predictable. Naturally,
she develops a relationship with Teddy Wright, the musician
son of the family whose house she is building. Much as she
likes him and is inspired by his indomitable spirit, she has
difficulty sitting back and enjoying the summer romance unfolding
before her. Thoughts of her family creep back into her memory,
and she remembers all of the reasons she has not to love others
let alone trust the ones who love her.
Though
the storyline is unsurprising and the ending a little forced,
How to Build a House isn't about being different plot-wise
or being a literary knockout. Rather, it's a quiet book about
trust, forgiveness, and moving on. Its strength is its realism
and believability. Everything from the setting to the pop
culture references makes the book current and easily identifiable,
and the characters seem to be the sort of teens one could
pick out of any high school.
Harper
comes off a little more privileged than the average teen,
but she thankfully is no Serena van der Woodsen. Neither her
lifestyle nor her problems are sensationalized, and her heartbreak
is very real. And at a time when even Mormon housewives write
books about girls raring to have sex, Reinhardt discusses
the subject honestly and without fanfare. There is no moral
browbeating, but there's no shock value, either. In doing
so, Reinhardt manages to bridge the gap between teen issues
and adult maturity, and she portrays her characters as young
adults rather than children approaching adulthood.
If anything,
Reinhardt is teen lit's Melissa Bank, discussing love and
relationships without obsessing over Manolos, compromising
her heroine's integrity, or demeaning her intelligence. For
that, Harper is an admirable character—the sort of girl
other girls would want to know in real life, flaws and all.
How to Build a House may not make much noise, but it
is a beautiful, understated read.
(July
2008)
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