Review: On The Fence

Kasie West has the gift of handling complex issues in beautifully simple prose. This book is very aptly titled: the life of Charlotte “Charlie” Reynolds, its heroine, is indeed a balancing act that requires all her strength and skill.

Charlie, as you can guess by her nickname, is a tomboy. Raised by a single father and three older brothers, with her male neighbor Braden for a best friend, she’s more comfortable on a soccer field than anywhere else. So when she is obliged to find a job to pay off a speeding ticket, and the only one available is at a clothing boutique, she feels very much out of her element. Learning about fashion and making friends with other women turns out to be good for her, but since she is afraid of being teased by her brothers and Braden, she keeps her new life separate from her old one. Talking to Braden at night over the fence between their houses is her only outlet for the stress of her double life; Braden, however, is part of the problem, since she’s falling for him.

This book is a strong example of the social pressures that teenage girls still face in developing their identity. Charlie is not a traditional girl to begin with. Still, she suppresses any so-called feminine traits she has – a newfound fashion sense; worries about body image; crying when upset; missing her mother – because she is afraid that being feminine will make her appear weak and/or promiscuous in the eyes of the men around her. “Are you wearing crap all over your face?” one of her brothers asks the first time he sees her wearing makeup. “I shouldn’t be worried that you work in the red-light district at night, right?” (p. 153). Charlie’s late mother, a clinically depressed woman who took her own life, adds an even deeper layer to Charlie’s troubles. She is afraid that taking on her mother’s gender role might make her vulnerable to her mother’s disease. Her brothers, who have been frightening away potential suitors behind her back, appear to feel the same way. “No wonder my dad and brothers thought I was so breakable (…) I’m sorry I wasn’t another boy,” Charlie thinks (p. 264).

On the other hand, she is equally afraid that being who she is - athletic, competitive, and outspoken – makes it impossible for any man to feel attracted to her. A stray comment of her brother’s about another girl who plays sports – “She’s probably a dog, some aggressive, burly thing” (p. 86) – sticks in Charlie’s mind for weeks. When a handsome boy sees her with her co-workers in “girl mode” and asks her out to a baseball game, she feels compelled to pretend total ignorance of the sport, even though she knows more about it than he does. Braden’s reaction is the reader’s first clue that he loves her: he is not only jealous of the other boy, but disappointed in Charlie for trying to hide what makes her unique.

By presenting Charlie as strong and beautiful at the same time, and having Braden love her because of her “masculine” qualities and not in spite of them, West plays with the idea of gender in interesting ways. The subplot involving Charlie’s mother and her mental illness is handled with equal compassion and finesse. West is never didactic; she never forgets that she is writing a YA romance, not a sociology text. But for anyone who likes their love stories to be fresh, healthy, modern, and unencumbered by stereotypes, this is the book for you.