Journal Entry 1 by lynlee4 from North Port, Florida USA on Sunday, July 06, 2008

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This isn't just one girl's story of sneaking drinks in junior high, creeping out for night-long keg parties in high school and binge-drinking weeknights and weekends through college—it's also a valuable cautionary tale. At 24 (her present age), Zailckas gave up drinking after a decade of getting drunk, having blackouts and experiencing brushes with comas, date rape and suicide. She weaves disturbing statistics (from Harvard School of Public Heath studies and elsewhere) into her memoir: most girls will have their first drink by age 12, and will have the experience of being drunk by 14; teenage girls drink as much as their male peers, but their bodies process it badly (they get drunk faster, stay drunk longer and are more likely to die of alcohol poisoning); and date rape and booze go hand-in-hand. Zailckas had alcohol poisoning at 16 after a night of downing shots at a party with friends, but having her stomach pumped in the emergency room and enduring a month of being grounded didn't check her desire to drink. Fraternity keg parties led to drunken sexual encounters not-quite-remembered; drinking began to replace intimacy. Alcohol defined Zailckas's adolescence and college years to such an extent that, as she tells it, she lacks the tools to be an adult: she's unsure how to maintain relationships and unclear about sex without an alcohol buzz. Zailckas is unsparingly insightful and acutely aware of what drinking can and does do to girls. She explains that while kids are taught that drugs are always dangerous, alcohol is perceived as an acceptable rite of passage. Her book is deeply moving, written in poetic, nuanced prose that never obscures the dangerous truths she seeks to reveal.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

Journal Entry 2 by lynlee4 from North Port, Florida USA on Friday, July 11, 2008

I bought this at the thrift store for my "Z" author in the A-Z Author Challenge. Growing up in an alcoholic home and being around substance abuse for most of my life I find it amazing that she defines alcoholism as only physical and that emotional dependence defines abuse.

I'll be interested to see where she is in 5-10-20 years. 

Journal Entry 3 by lynlee4 at I75 rest area in Tampa, Florida USA on Sunday, November 02, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (11/2/2008 UTC) at I75 rest area in Tampa, Florida USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Rest area southbound I75 - near mile marker 238. In ladies room.