Chloe Doe

This book was deliciously excellent. It truly is a page turner that grips you from the beginning to the last word on the last page. I couldn't put this down! I love how Chloe transforms herself and finds peacefulness in her crazy, lost life. This book was excellent and it is sure staying in my book case for years to come! ;)

This is an interesting, workman-like addition to young adult literature. It has elements of mystery and family that make it more than just another gloomy look at a grim character in bleak circumstances. Like E.R. Frank's "America," "Chloe Doe" reveals the ache of its title character. Teen prostitution will make some readers uneasy, as will the appropriately realistic language, and such readers will seek out other material. The book is a quick read, even for people who don't normally enjoy reading. I can easily see teen readers of "A Child Called It" looking to this title.

Following her arrest for prostitution, seventeen-year-old Chloe lands in the Madeline Parker Institute for Girls. She's cut off from her family, but mostly from herself. Phillips tells the story of Chloe's disjointed life in a disjointed fashion: fragments revealed through slow therapy, emo-laced and poems, and flashbacks. Chloe's mind is cluttered, thus so is her story, which is loaded with the Spanish slang learned in her neighborhood. Similar in some ways to America by E. R. Frank (as well as my own Chasing Tail Lights), Chloe Doe is about a teen with too much experience too soon in life, trying to recapture an innocence.

CHLOE DOE is a wrenching, unflinching portrayal of a girl on the fringes of society. On and off the street since the age of eleven, having worked as a prostitute for most of that time, seventeen-year-old Chloe has little patience for the attempts of The Madeline Parker Institute for Girls to reform her. However, as she speaks with the institute's "shrink" and starts to bond with the other girls, she realizes there may be more to life than what she's assumed is her lot. Chloe, who narrates the story in chapters set in the institute and flashbacks to her life before she ran away from home, has a sharp, engaging voice that will grip readers quickly and bring them into her world. As her story unfolds, those shocked by her situation will come to understand it. Despite her untouchable front, Chloe slowly reveals all the pain and fear that lie underneath, making her sympathetic even though her outlook is so different from that of most teens. Her love for her older sister in particular makes her human and achingly believable. The novel doesn't shy away from the harsh details of Chloe's life. Thankfully, it manages to relate her awful and sometimes tragic experiences without falling into melodrama or playing up for shock value. Everything is stated simply and directly. While the narrative rarely goes into graphic detail, enough is shown and the rest is skillfully implied to make it clear that Chloe's path has been far from an easy one. This makes her attempts to open up and escape her narrow, hopeless world-view all the more poignant and heroic. As the scenes in the present and the past lead up to the final revelation of what drove her from her home, the reader will be glued to the page. The ending, when it comes, is hopeful without being maudlin or unrealistic. That realism, ultimately, is what makes CHLOE DOE worthwhile. It acknowledges both the good and the bad, letting readers make their own judgments about Chloe and her life. Many will find themselves wondering, how would they have reacted, if things had gone a similar way for them? Could they have done better? Could they, in the end, rise above it? Chloe's story will inspire them with the idea that no matter how far one falls, there is always hope. Reviewed by: Lynn Crow

Suzanne Phillips is a wonderful writer. This book is filled with honest, true and riveting details. You really feel for Chloe. I couldn't put it down. The writing is stunning. A book that stays with you long after you've finished. You should definately read this one!