The novel Girl in Pieces is an amazing story depicting the hard life of a teenage girl. Kathleen Glasgow writes from the perspective of the seventeen year old Charlotte Davis. The writing is so raw that it feels as it Charlotte is a real breathing person.

Charlotte Davis, or “Charlie”, is seventeen years old and has lot practically everything. The only way she is able to cope with her traumatic life is to forget. She takes thick shards of glass and cuts and cuts until all the sorrow and memories have flown away. Charlie tries to forget about her dad and his plunge into the river, her only friend who is broken and will never be the same, and the seed house where young girls go into the room filled by mattresses with strange men. She tries to cut it all out. If she cuts deep enough maybe she won’t care about “f#%*ing Frank” and how he is still out there, or her abusive mother. Charlie is admitted to a rehab hospital for girls.
Everyday in Group she listens to girls cry until they are empty. To their stories of self harm and drug abuse. Unlike the girls who drain their bodies of tears, Charlie never talks or cries. She doesn’t tell of her life on the streets, the drugs, or of the underpass. When her family can no longer pay for her treatment, her mother comes, but once again throws her onto the streets.

Through out Charlie’s journey you will become attached and sincerely care for her. While reading I became addicted to the pages and kept reaching for more. Glasgow was able to capture an angle that is not always seen, the uncensored side of teenage life. Nothing is held back. Charlie’s story is heartbreaking brutally honest, and one to remember.

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