Maggie Come Lately is written for high school students. It deals with issues that, unfortunately, confront many in this age group. Maggie is a 16 year old girl living with two brothers and their father. Their mother committed suicide when Maggie was about 9 years old. She has been acting as the “mother” in the family ever since while also attending high school. Needless to say, she didn’t have a normal childhood.
Maggie feels invisible to her classmates. She has never had a date. Maggie doesn’t dress in the latest fashions. Money is a constant issue in this family. Maggie’s family is involved in a church but she feels ill at ease around the youth leader.
One horrible day everything changes. Maggie becomes a hometown hero. She goes off into some nearby woods for a walk and hears moaning. Maggie, always a caregiver, follows the sound and finds a teenage girl from her high school. That girl is one of the “popular crowd” and ignores Maggie. Today, she is suffering from stab wounds and a rape. Maggie summons help and attempts to comfort this girl while waiting for the paramedics.
Maggie’s father decides to introduce a woman he is dating to his family. Their immediate reaction is that he is trying to replace their mother. This upsets every one of them. The woman is the leader in a local crisis center and is able to help Maggie through the rape of her school mate and her own close call with the perpetrator of that rape. Although Maggie appreciates this woman professionally, she doesn’t see her as a step-mother.
Every teenager will identify with Maggie. In today’s high schools, rape, sexual molestation even by religious leaders, popular versus unpopular teens, and family problems are all too common. Teen girls reading this book will see a demonstration of how one teen manages to keep her faith strong while meeting these challenges. It points teens undergoing crisis to both professionals who can assist and to their faith as the rock that won’t change in spite of the varying circumstances in their lives.
Recommendation
Buckman demonstrates her expertise at writing along with her understanding of the teen world in this book. Most teenage girls will identify with at least one of the many characters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book even as an adult. In fact, this book was difficult to lie down!
This book is intense reading because so many problems are covered. Some parents may not want to expose younger teens to everything that happens here. However, others will find that it opens their eyes into the typical world of teens today. Perhaps it will open lines of communication between parents and teens so they can deal with existing problems in their teens’ lives.
Michelle Buckman. Maggie Come Lately. Think Books (NavPress). 2007.
