“Very pleased to meet you.” At the entrance to her high school in Virginia, 18-year-old Jemima greets the older guests who, as alumni, were responsible for the proms. This year, as the best in her class, she is part of the team that has to organize the school jamboree and the prom, the ball. Along with Head Boy Andy – whom she secretly calls an ass but finds sexy – and Gennifer, the hottest girl in school. She feels intimidated by their dominance as the “perfect American girl.” But Gennifer is saving her from venting her anger on the older male visitors who gawk at her, and living up to her reputation as a fanatical feminist.
Kate Hattemer still seems angry about her own school days
She is fighting for equal rights at her expensive private school after it, originally a traditional boys’ school, was merged with the neighboring girls’ school. Have the roles really changed now?
In “The Master Plan of the Last Chances”, the author Kate Hattemer soon makes her protagonists realize that social traditions are tough. The boys succeed with coolness and sports and the girls work on their “good” reputation, on their social position as adults. This traditional happy ending of adaptation, the theme of many American college novels, is not found in Kate Hattemer. She still seems angry about her own school days and, inspired by the feminist writings of Ngozi Adichie, Raxane Grey, Lindy West and Naomi Wolf – which she mentions in the epilogue – she gives Jemima, her heroine, every chance to vent her aggression, “Doing things she is advised against”. She comes across as a nerd and an outsider, disguising the fact that she’s actually nothing but insecure and adolescent. She watches self-critically as she slips into the sex scenes with Andy. She imagines something different when it comes to true love, but is drawn to him again and again and at the same time is stunned at herself. This tightrope walk of feelings, typical of the wild time of puberty, is expressed in the dialogues between the young people in a rebellious, drastic, age-appropriate language. Which was very empathetically translated into German by Ingo Herzke.
With Jemima there is always the possibility of social crashes because she catapults herself into oblivion with unusual actions. Her idea of undermining the tradition of choosing a partner at the prom – not only the boys but also the girls should indicate their desired partners incognito on an encrypted Internet platform – leads to a shaking of the school peace. The list, actually anonymous, is published and blamed for it. But her very loving brother and her best friend, who is much more down-to-earth than she is, help her, as does the realization that girl power sometimes happens where you least expect it. “It was the freedom I’d wanted all my life. I could talk or sing or shut up whatever I wanted” (14+)
Kate Hattemer: The Last Chances Master Plan. Translated from the English by Ingo Herzke. Carlsen 2021. 300 pages, 14 euros.