Carmen is a coming-of-age story for awkward girls everywhere. Carmen feels transparent and plays things by the book until one Valentine’s Day when she’s compelled to break out of her broken down self-image. She runs away from school deciding she doesn’t want to do her presentation on antique statues. The choice of topic and the fact that she must speak in front of the class terrifies her. What’s worse is she has to face Simon, the boy with the pale eyes, who she’s asked to the school dance in a love letter. So Carmen escapes to a teenaged girl’s haven-the mall. After staring at home appliances and men’s sweaters, Carmen strolls into the women’s department where, in a growing frenzy of confusion, she steals lipstick from the makeup counter. This is where she meets a TV reporter who asks her what she wants for Valentine’s Day. Her answer “I want to be loved” makes people wonder if she’s suicidal. At the end of her gawky day Carmen spots a local musician at a laundromat and awkwardly starts up a conversation that leads her to fold his laundry. After he runs away from her, she follows him home, and manages to make this work to her benefit and she eventually finds herself onstage. Carmen is a fairy tale of a young girl who gets to live out her wildest fantasy by discovering herself. (Andrea Nene)
by Carole Frechette, translated by Susan Ouriou, $16.95, 108 pgs, Red Deer Press, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, reddeerpress.com