Mailbox

All through this book I found myself trying to work out who it was aimed at. On getting to the end of it, I noticed in the topics for discussion section at the back that the question was posed there as well - is it for a YA audience or for a grown up one? Sadly I don't think it really works for either. For the YA audience, it's a weird historical look at childhood, told in short passages, but which only has a passing relevance to the youth of today. It comes from an era before mobile phones, computers and 24/7 connectivity, so bullies can be fought with fists and boys anonymously called to rate a group of girls so they can work out who fancies whom.
For the adult audience, it's awkwardly childlike in its tone, leaving me feeling like I shouldn't really be reading the personal thoughts of a young girl - a bit like a parent reading their child's diary.
Not for me at all. Sorry.

Books a best when read with friends, as I'm sure MAILBOX narrator Sandy Drue would agree, so when a friend said she got MAILBOX from the "Read Now" ARC shelf at NetGalley, I did too.

Nancy Freund's "scattershot novel" is a collection of seventy-five super short stories, some not more than a paragraph or two, which are really the diary of Sandy Drue as she ages from eight to twelve or so. The appeal of this book, disjointed though it sometimes seemed, was that I identify with Sandy Drue. Freund places her in time about two decades before I was those ages but she gives Sandy the thoughts I had, Sandy writes things like what I wrote (or would have written if I'd been better at keeping a diary), and Sandy talks like I talked when faced with the changes of childhood to not yet adulthood.

All that being said, I think I would have liked the book more if it was a proper novel told from Sandy's perspective, because I love Sandy. Less random essays and more story, that sort of thing.

And all that being said, MAILBOX is an excellent way to spend a few hours.

(I received a copy of MAILBOX through NetGalley and Gobreau Press LLC in exchange for an honest and original review.)

Freund has perfectly captured the voice of a young teen girl coming of age in the 70's. I was able to relate particularly well, since I was the age of the main character when the news items mentioned in the book actually occurred, and the reactions are authentic and well-written.

I loved this book!! It was an easy read I sit down and read it in just a few sittings.

This “scattershot novel” is a compilation of 76 different short takes on a variety of subjects seen from the point of view of a precocious thirteen-year-old girl, Sandy Drue. The mailbox referenced in the title is a box into which, over the previous few years, she has been putting scraps of paper with her observations about life. Now she has pulled them together into a composition of sorts.
The little stories themselves are a mix of funny, poignant, and astute interpretations of everything from religion to puberty to how unfunny haunted houses can be. She searches for the meaning of life while contemplating fireflies, loss of loved ones, and the questionable conduct of some of the adults around her. In true stream-of-consciousness behavior, she says whatever comes into her mind at the moment, punctuating her narrative of what’s happening now with an amusing aside or a quick definition of a word she thinks the reader may not know, then exuberantly popping back in to finish where she unceremoniously left off. This novel is classified as Coming of Age rather than Young Adult, and I believe that’s wise. In true Judy Blume style, the author takes us into the thoughts of a preteen facing the physical changes of young womanhood and beginning to ponder her place in the world. Sandy’s voice is young—at times, she made me think of Junie B. Jones—and the stories she tells most likely have more nostalgic significance and appeal for mature adults than for teenagers who have recently moved out of that phase themselves. I found this to be primarily a light read, quick, and fun.

A truly fun read especially for me since I was raised in the same time period. It was told as entries which when you were that age was about all the writing we would have done to tell our story. It reminded me of some of my escapades and experiences that I had at that age. I think people of all ages will enjoy this book.

Although I've noticed that some reviewers tend to think that this book was a bit boring from time to time, for me it was just the right thing at the right moment. Mailbox is beautifully written and somewhat resembles "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' by Judy Blume' but Sandy, the main character, has a lot more courage and personality when compared to other teenage characters I've come across over the years. She's feisty and independent and knows right from wrong and won't let be taken down by the critiques of bullies at home. I particularly enjoyed the relationship she had with her brother and parents up to the point I started wishing it would have been the same for me back when I was 13. There was a part where Sandy goes to a Haunted House along 13 other girls or so, and there's a creepy doctor that starts faking an experiment on one of Sandy's colleagues - I LOVED this scene. When things began to get super creepy, and Sandy thought the doctor would have wounded her colleague, Constance, she decided to jump right in and throw in some punches at that fake doctor. I laughed so hard when I read about a 13-year-old girl beating a creepy adult that I had to tell my boyfriend all about the scene because he didn't understand why I was chuckling so much. In other words, Mailbox just couldn't have been better for me.

This is a well-written little book of snippets - thoughts from the point of view of a teenager. They aren't exactly stories - more just stream of consciousness. It's been many years since I was 13, but this brought back some memories of how I felt at times. Easy reading.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mailbox is the strangest novel I’ve ever read- in a good way. I absolutely loved the structure though it took some getting used to. The novel is divided into dozens of little vignettes that have stories and adventures about a young girl growing up in 1970’s America. Mailbox reads like a collection of short stories or fragments that are linked together and not always in obvious ways. Imagine someone had written a journal every day for years and one day suddenly tore out all the pages and scattered them. This is what Mailshot is. I’ve read a lot of novels set in the present or future recently so I really enjoyed taking a trip to the 70’s (when I wasn’t even born). I thought Sandy was a great character. I loved her point of view. I found myself having a few nostalgic moments and wondering was I like that when I was 13? I hope so. Sandy’s voice is perfect to narrate the novel and so much of her anecdotes, asides and observations rung true.

This was a really enjoyable book, it really took me back to being a child, which was lovley. It actually felt like I was reading a Judy Blume book again. The protagonist Sandy finds a typwritter at her dads office, and decides to write what is essentially a diary about her day to day life, thoughts, and feelings, over the course of a few years. I enjoyed the book, it was something totally different, and I found Sandy to be a really smart girl. The stories were a mixture of funny and sad, but always interesting and entertaining.