If you haven't already read Jennifer Weiner's debut novel Good In Bed, I highly recommend that you do. Jennifer Weiner is the queen of all 'Chic Lit'; while her prose easily qualifies as the best of her genre, Weiner never fails to create the most realistic and relatable protagonists for her stories.
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Certain Girls picks up almost a decade and a half post Good in Bed with the lovably large protagonist Cannie Shapiro. In this continuation of her life, Cannie is married and learning to raise her pre-pubescent daughter Joy. Together, Joy and Cannie learn the difficulties and strains of a mother-daughter relationship.
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The planning of Joy's upcoming Bat Mitzvah becomes one of the main sources of conflict between Joy and her mother. As Joy deals with the pressures of fitting in with the popular crowd at school, Cannie tries to keep her daughter young, innocent, and safe from the cruelties experienced during her own childhood. For example, Joy wants a big pink dress with with thin straps and lots of sparkles. Cannie thinks this ensemble is too "adult" for her daughter as well as innappriate for such a relgious rite of passage. As expected from a 'tween', Joy becomes infuriated with her mother and begins to rebel out of her perfect daughter role.
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What I enjoyed most about this book was the alternating view points from chapter to chapter. We get to see into both Joy's head and her mother's at different times. I was especially impressed with Weiner's ability to write Joy's character who thinks and acts just like a pre-teen ought to. It was also fun to watch as Joy got away with things her mother never even found out about, because they're telling the same story.
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Though Good in Bed was, in many ways, much more trivial, emotional, and enchanting, I was satisfied with the second coming of Cannie in Certain Girls. As readers its important to understand that Cannie is not only older, but in a better place than she was in her first story. As a result, Cannie's character is much more mature, and most of the novels' themes are different.
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The ending is the most controversial thing about the book. I was both in shock and disbelief until the very last chapter when it finally ended. In a way, though, I feel that it added some level of realtiy to Cannie's story -- and it certainly didn't tie in with the stereotypical "happy ending" carried by all chic lit novels.
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Again, if you choose to read Certain Girls, finish Good in Bed first. It's one of my favorite books of all time, so you practically HAVE to love it. That is, if you're a girl.
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