In Like Mandarin, 14-year-old Grace Carpenter would give anything to be like Mandarin Ramey. Mandarin is 17, wild, and a force almost as strong as the Washokey wildwinds.
From Grace: Sure, maybe most of the attention Mandarin got was negative. But it wasn't the kind of disdainful brainfreak attention I got, when I got any at all. Hers was lust. And jealousy. Because even as they condemned her, every single girl wanted to be her.
But nobody more than me.
I want to be beautiful like you, I thought, as if Mandarin were listening.
I want apricot skin and Pocahontas hair and eyes the color of tea. I want to be confident and detached and effortlessly sensual, and if promiscuity is part of the package, I will gladly follow your lead. All I know is I'm so tired of being inside my body.
I would give anything to be like Mandarin.
In honor of LIKE MANDARIN'S release, Kirsten Hubbard has been inviting people to blog about who their Mandarin was, or is, for that matter.
any one of my friends, all for small, different reasons. I've always heard it said that we're drawn to the people who exhibit the traits we admire and wish we had. For me, those people are my friends. My best friends in high school were a mix of the things I wanted to be. Where I was on the shy side, soft-spoken and a little unsure, they were witty and self-assured, brash and a touch wild.
And now, some of my friends have changed along the way, but the things I'm drawn to are the same. The people I'm closest to and admire most now are still witty and self-assured, still a little wild, and still say things I wish I had the guts to say and wear things I'd give anything to be able to pull off. They inspire me to cultivate those qualities in myself. They also make me feel good about who I am, just as I am. I don't think any of us ever grow out of the desire to be a little more or a little different, but the beautiful thing is, if we surround ourselves with the right people, we don't have to.
From Grace: Sure, maybe most of the attention Mandarin got was negative. But it wasn't the kind of disdainful brainfreak attention I got, when I got any at all. Hers was lust. And jealousy. Because even as they condemned her, every single girl wanted to be her.
But nobody more than me.
I want to be beautiful like you, I thought, as if Mandarin were listening.
I want apricot skin and Pocahontas hair and eyes the color of tea. I want to be confident and detached and effortlessly sensual, and if promiscuity is part of the package, I will gladly follow your lead. All I know is I'm so tired of being inside my body.
I would give anything to be like Mandarin.
In honor of LIKE MANDARIN'S release, Kirsten Hubbard has been inviting people to blog about who their Mandarin was, or is, for that matter.
any one of my friends, all for small, different reasons. I've always heard it said that we're drawn to the people who exhibit the traits we admire and wish we had. For me, those people are my friends. My best friends in high school were a mix of the things I wanted to be. Where I was on the shy side, soft-spoken and a little unsure, they were witty and self-assured, brash and a touch wild.
And now, some of my friends have changed along the way, but the things I'm drawn to are the same. The people I'm closest to and admire most now are still witty and self-assured, still a little wild, and still say things I wish I had the guts to say and wear things I'd give anything to be able to pull off. They inspire me to cultivate those qualities in myself. They also make me feel good about who I am, just as I am. I don't think any of us ever grow out of the desire to be a little more or a little different, but the beautiful thing is, if we surround ourselves with the right people, we don't have to.
I love your last line! We can be who we are, and surround ourselves with people that have qualities we lack. Brilliant.
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