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Once upon a time, life revolved around the mall. It was the center of our style, our entertainment, and our social lives. It’s where we went to shop, to eat pizza with friends in the food court, and to pretend not to notice the cute boys in the arcade. And Megan McCafferty’s The Mall returns to those days with a frustrated teen.
The story is set in 1991, as Cassie Worthy is entering the summer between high school and college. All her life, Cassie has dreamed of moving to New York City—and her dream is about to come true. She and her boyfriend, Troy, just have to get through a few weeks of working at the cookie place at the Parkway Center Mall near the Jersey Shore, and they’ll be moving on in the next step in The Plan. But when Troy dumps her and she loses her job, she finds herself starting over with a new job, a renewed friendship, and a new adventure.
The Mall may be a story about a teenage girl who’s navigating the ups and downs of relationships and friendships and crappy jobs at the mall as she waits for her real life to begin, but the story will appeal to moms just as much as (and probably even more than) their teenage daughters. Because, really, it’s not as much about the story as it is about the setting.
Sure, Cassie grows up a lot during her weeks of work at the mall. She learns about relationships, about friendships, and about being her own person—whoever that may be. She also joins her former best friend and new coworker, Drea, on a bizarre treasure hunt through the quirky stores. Her adventures tend to be random and haphazard: she avoids her ex and his shrill new girlfriend, she deals with her parents’ unexpected separation, and she visits the secret hangout for mall workers. But they’re often wild and crazy enough to make readers laugh out loud.
Still, to get the full effect of this story, it definitely helps if you lived through the late ‘80s and early ‘90s—if you understand the mall culture, the fads, the music, and the fashions. Not only will Cassie’s life at the mall bring back a whole lot of memories, but you’ll also understand the story on a whole different level.
For younger readers, The Mall may seem strange and surreal—a quirky story filled with tacky characters. But, for former mall kids, it’s like a crazy time capsule of a rom-com.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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