"Letting go of Bobby James or how I found my self of steam"

For the week after our break, I read "Letting go of Bobby James, or how I found my self of steam," by Valerie Hobbs. I read a review for it in our course packet and ordered it from B & N, because it sounded so interesting. It was!

The book explores something we haven't talked about much yet in YA, being abusive relationships. The sixteen-year-old protagonist, Sally Jo, who goes by Jody, is from a small, rural town in Texas. She comes from a poor family, (this book shows the plight of poverty from a modern perspective.) Jody is the first in her family to graduate from the 8th grade (that should give you insight to her background) and now finds herself married to Bobby James, also sixteen. While on their honeymoon, which consisted of driving through Florida and staying in random towns, Bobby James hits Jody for the first time. As she is in the gas station putting make up over her eye and pondering her future, Bobby James takes off. Jody finds herself alone in a strange town, with a black eye and nowhere to go. Jody can't go home because her mother will tell her to go back to her husband, as sad as that sounds. Although, Jody knows it was wrong for Bobby James to hit her. She musters up courage and gets a job as a dish washer at a diner. She sleeps in the movie theatre for awhile and eventually befriends a pregnant teen, who is living in a dumpy apartment complex. Jody saves some money to move in. The ending is empowering. While Jody doesn't end up rich or famous, or anything close. She graduates to cook at the restaurant, and has ambitions to work on her GED and go to college. She turns Bobby James away when he tries to come back. And most importantly, as Jody would say she found her "self of steam" along the way.
What I really liked about this book was the immediate choice Jody made not to take Bobby James back. She recognized what he did was wrong and if he did it once he would do it again. It was particularly hard for her to believe in her decision, as she had poor role models in Texas. Her father repeatedly abused her mother and left their home at different periods in her life. Jody's mother always took him back. The culture of Jody's community in Texas was very old fashioned and believed in sticking by your husband no matter what. Jody thought about calling her Mama, but she already knew what she would say. "Honor your vowes, she would tell me, especially for the worst-part, which was right now." Jody even makes some excuses for Bobby James concerning his temper, which is common from abused women. She says "And I can see he really doesn't want the answer, and he's starting to heat up the way he does. What you need to do then is play him out on a long line and wait until he can be reeled back in." In this way, the violence in this book represents "Structural-cultural violence" defined in "Monstrous Acts: Problematizing Violence in young adult literature," as one of three types of violence. Structural-cultural is "represented in world views, or ways of thinking, that accept violence as a natural part of life. It is hard to see it because it appears "normal," (p. 372.) Abusive relationships appear "normal" to Jody, because this is the culture of her small town. She has led a sheltered life and is ignorant to the rest of society. This structural-cultural violence makes Jody's choice to break the cycle of abuse in her family particularly challenging. But, very powerful when the reader sees Jody's process of "growing up," facing obstacles along they way and developing into a strong female with self-respect. I could see many ways to use this book for the type of classroom inquiry given in "Monstrous Acts." Discussion could range from abusive relationships, abuse in general, believing in oneself, courage, class, teenage pregnancy, homelessness etc. This book approaches many discussable topics for YA.


Have a great break,
Staci