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The literary debut of Dana Schwartz, genius behind parody twitter accounts @GuyInYourMFA<\/a> \u00a0and @DystopianYA<\/a>, \u00a0is out on the buckshelves \u00a0this month\u00e2\u0153\u00a8<\/p>\n And We’re Off’<\/em>s protagonist is \u00a0Nora Holmes, a smart, self-aware seventeen-year-old \u00a0who pines after \u00a0the career of her famous artist grandfather. It’s he, actually, who \u00a0finances her summer trip \u00a0to \u00a0Europe, including the tuition of \u00a0a prestigious art program in Ireland\u2014pending the \u00a0completion of small \u00a0art projects he has \u00a0assigned her \u00a0for each leg of the trip. (Sadly for me, we’re only graced with the presence of \u00a0his character \u00a0in a brief flashback and \u00a0through his \u00a0handwritten letters.) Nora \u00a0has dreamy, pastry-filled plans for her Euro trip, but she’s thrown for a loop when \u00a0her mom decides at the last possible second<\/em> \u00a0to join her in an attempt to reconcile an \u00a0ever-present strain on their relationship. With Nora’s mood sinking at record speeds, off they jet to Paris.<\/p>\n In each city, Nora sulks over \u00a0all the boys \u00a0she could have met in hostels and all the soul-searching \u00a0she could have done in matchbox caf\u00e9s. Understandable, but these episodes do prompt the feeling \u00a0that it might do Nora well to \u00a0put down her paintbrush and check her privilege. While the \u00a0mother-daughter \u00a0tension \u00a0that Schwartz captures is relatable and real, the backdrop of a beautiful and probably expensive Parisian hotel waters down the conflict. Luckily, Schwartz \u00a0does not go \u00a0easy on either character, and the end of the novel guides us to the realization that communication is crucial to any familial or romantic relationship.<\/p>\n What I really lingered on were \u00a0Nora’s observations \u00a0about the scenery around her, and the way these \u00a0descriptions control+pasted \u00a0you right into the book. \u00a0In Paris, she passes a tiny bookshop\/bar that she does not go into but can “imagine the smell (leather and stiff paper and Christmas trees and patchouli oil) and the countless stories that have unfolded just behind the shop’s glass window.” When she \u00a0pulls into the driveway of \u00a0her homestay on the rural coast of Ireland, she observes that “the front steps are littered with mismatched galoshes.” She heads straight for a pub \u00a0that’s “all made of wood, like a tree house, almost vibrating with noise and swollen with the smell of beer and something a little sweet that [she] can’t quite place.” While we, as readers, never get to see Nora’s visual art, we don’t need to: her words paint pictures for us.<\/p>\n Given that SparkNotes \u00a0is the birthplace of No Fear Shakespeare<\/a>, it’s worth mentioning that the book references \u00a0Hamlet<\/a><\/em> \u00a0more than once, which is a \u00a0correct \u00a0number of times. My personal favorite:<\/p>\n I had this vision of [Hamlet] on a beach somewhere, just drinking a pi\u00c3\u00b1a colada and reading a book and not having to worry about the state of Denmark or his soul.<\/em><\/p>\n There is a scene where Nora passionately explains \u00a0the name of her blog, Ophelia in Paradise, to a handsome \u00a0Irish boy in the cozy local pub. She tells him that Ophelia’s character is overlooked and underrated, and he responds by saying he was supposed to read Hamlet<\/em> for school, but that he never did. This \u00a0so accurately captures the essence of high school romance that I found myself wanting to get on twitter and @ every student on the planet: \u00a0Don’t drop everything \u00a0for boys\/girls who don’t appreciate your \u00a0interests, don’t doubt yourself, and \u00a0FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP CRAPPING ON \u00a0OPHELIA. \u00a0<\/em>The exchange \u00a0made me root for \u00a0Nora the whole way through, and it will make you do the same.<\/p>\n And We’re Off<\/em><\/span> \u00a0<\/strong><\/span>is for you if: you loved \u00a0Gilmore Girls<\/em>, you believe that misshapen croissants<\/a> mark the decline of civilization, \u00a0and your brain craves \u00a0a light summer read \u00a0after \u00a0a long semester of analyzing \u00a0Proust \u00a0\u00f0\u0178\u201d\u00a5<\/p>\n Get \u00a0your copy<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>here<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The literary debut of Dana Schwartz, genius behind parody twitter accounts @GuyInYourMFA \u00a0and @DystopianYA, \u00a0is out on the buckshelves \u00a0this month\u00e2\u0153\u00a8 And We’re Off’s protagonist is \u00a0Nora Holmes, a smart, self-aware seventeen-year-old \u00a0who pines after continue reading<\/span>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/img.sparknotes.com\/content\/sparklife\/sparktalk\/AWO_plane.jpg\")
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