The Falconer by Dana Czapnik

I am rarely impressed by coming of age novels. The main reason is that most characters, particularly young girls are completely unrelatable for me. In addition, there is a certain tendency towards stereotypying the characters who sooner or later will all sound the same: rebelious, playing with sex, some recreational drugs etc.

I´ve heard many things about The Falconer - inspired by the homonymouos statue in Central Park and interpreted by one of the protagonists as a symbol of freedom and nonchalance of young age -, the debut novel by Dana Czapnik and therefore included it on my TBR, but wasn´t sure what to expect. Maybe some easygoing coming of age story, with just another rebelious girl folllowing the same ingredients of the same old recipe...But it´s far from it.

Jewish-Italian Lucy Adler is a young girl, not too rebelious, playing basketball and asking questions. Her questions and questioning though, reflect a process of acknowledging the reality. Adulthood is few steps away, but until she will reach this point, she adds the information bridging one age to another. Like when she is trying to understand her parents, how, for instance, her father abandoned his writing career - he published a book once - for a more lucrative profession of lawyer. 

Lucy, the main storyteller, is like sitting in the center of the world, reflecting herself through the mirror fragments of other people´s realities, be it adults or other fellow youngsters. This is how I used to see myself as a late teenager as well. Many bonus points for the basketball playing, few of the sports I loved to play - in comparison with tennis, which I find utterly noninteresting. 

The historical ambiance of the novel - end of the 1990s - it´s an unique choice, and it really sound like, with the middle class social shifts during the Clinton years and the typical youth realm during those times. 

The Falconer is a story of an inquiring young girl trying to intellectually map the world. I just hope Czapnik will release soon another novel, as this debut novel announces a mature voice that may keep telling stories.

Rating: 5 stars