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AN Off Year Claire Zulkey Books

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AN Off Year Claire Zulkey Books

We bought it for the 17-year-old daughter of a friend, and she totally enjoyed it. Well written and fun for those who aren't even remotely close to being teenagers any longer. Highly recommended!


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AN Off Year Claire Zulkey Books Reviews

With Cecily, Zulkey does an excellent job of capturing the awe, aimlessness, fears, and social anxiety of being a teenager. Even though she doesn't want to, Cecily can't help admiring her older siblings' lives, their independence, even as she's uncertain whether she will ever be able to fully take steps towards her own. She fights with her father, about nothing and everything, but knows she will miss him.

An Off Year is about feeling out of place, at college, and at home, and while that feeling isn't specific to being a teenager, there is a profound way that for teenagers, especially as they embark on being adults, it seems overwhelming. Cecily is discovering "the real world" and Zulkey doesn't paint it as all powerful or all demoralizing. Cecily has to learn for herself, along with some mentors, crushes, friends and former friends, what it means to be herself. Most of all, she has to learn to trust that she will find her path.

I'd recommend this to anyone in high school or college, especially, who feels out of place, a little lost. This is not an action-packed book racing from one wild scene to the next. It offers a slow reveal, an internal dialogue Cecily has with herself, which spares no one--her parents, her friends, her counselors. There are times when most readers will find Cecily's worldview a little harsh, a little bitter, and I had to rein myself in from judging her too harshly because she is, after all, a teenager and that is part and parcel of life for most teens. Scratch that surface of jadedness and Cecily is open to wonder, though sometimes it takes unexpected forms, like her brother's girlfriend Angie, who she tries to hate, but can't. Cecily is a keen observer of those around her, in part because she's afraid to really ask herself what she wants, though when she finally does, she starts to see that while she may be different from her peers, she's not all that different. Zulkey ends the book on a hopeful note, and has created a book that doesn't lionize college as "the best years of your life." I liked that Cecily didn't do something cliched during her year off, that she spent a lot of it "wasting" time that it turns out wasn't wasted at all. This book doesn't have a sappy ending, but it does have a happy one, though easily could have had a happy ending even if Cecily hadn't made the decision she does, which, I think, is part of the lesson of An Off Year; that we all have to find our own path, as winding and meandering as it may be, and that nobody can tell us exactly what that path will be.
As someone who is taking a year off herself, to figure out what she wants to do and how she's going to get there, this book resonated with me. It's scary to not conform with what everyone else is doing. To feel a little left behind. To feel like you're completely insane. But at the same time- everyone feels that way. Zulkey explores the topic in a very human way, being really sympathetic to her character but also making no effort to hide her flaws. Cecily is a fun girl, but she's spoiled. She's not ok with things changing. She's worried about the unknown. She doesn't do anything earth-shattering in her year off- she doesn't travel or start a non-profit or write a novel. She just needs time to figure herself out. Come to terms with the changes going on in her life. Get to know her family and maybe let go of a few friends.

I think the book was very realistic in that not everything was tied up neatly at the end- we don't really ever get to know Cecily's mother, we don't see how her relationship with her sister evolves, and we don't get to see if she actually does well in college. But that is true to life. Cecily's best friend from high school warps into a complete stranger in college- who among us doesn't know how that feels? She's a really easy character to cheer for and enjoy. She's quirky, with a dry sense of humor and a lot of heart.

It was light and fun and hilarious, but also hit the spot in terms of getting its point across. A lot of kids who apply to college would like reading it; maybe it's better to read it after they start college, so they'll understand it better. It's also good for anyone who sometimes looks in the mirror and thinks, "What in the world am I doing with my life?" As you'll see in the book, it's ok to wonder that, to think that there must be something that you're missing. You're not the only one. And even if the book doesn't have the answers, and doesn't offer sage advice, it's nice to know you're not alone.

Full Review at
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I knew right away when I read the blurb for this book it was made for me. And I was so happy that once I was done reading it that it provided exactly what I was looking for. For me the story was very realistic and relatable. I sort of unknowingly took a year off after I graduated from college and literally did nothing (I watched so many repeats of Scrubs they actual started repeating back to ones I had seen that same year!). I know that some people might have problems reading a story about a girl that really doesn't do anything for a year but for me it was so honest and real. It really made me think back on that time in my life.

I feel like this book could help a lot of people that are thinking about college or what's next for them in their life. Cecily takes the time to think whereas most of us just go onto college and do it because we think that's what we are supposed to do. Whereas for some reason Cecily stops herself and decides she's not ready. I think the characters in the book from Cecily's therapist to her career counselor to her friends all help make the point that most of us don't know what we are doing and are faking it until we make it. Just knowing that I think can make it easier for people.

I really liked the range of secondary characters in the book from Cecily's older sister who is just finding a job after college and trying to avoid Cecily to her father that feels helpless but wants to help her, to her brother and his girlfriend and Cecily's friends she feels like she's growing apart from. The all helped Cecily understand something about herself and helped her grow.

Because of my personal connection to this book, for me it was something special. I hope others can recognize themselves or someone they know in this book as well and get something out of it.
We bought it for the 17-year-old daughter of a friend, and she totally enjoyed it. Well written and fun for those who aren't even remotely close to being teenagers any longer. Highly recommended!