It's long overdue, but Milwaukee is finally getting some props in the literary world lately. Colleen Curran's 2005 novel "The Whores on the Hill" springs to mind, of course, but there are two brand new books in shops that are set in Milwaukee.

One of them is Pauls Toutonghi's "Red Weather" (more about that another day) and the other is "Girls in Peril," a coming of age novel -- out in paperback -- set in Cudahy and written by Milwaukee area native Karen Lee Boren, who says that she couldn't have set her debut novel anywhere else.

"I feel place to be extraordinarily important to this novel," says Boren from her home in Rhode Island, where she teaches literature and creative writing at Rhode Island College.

"Could these girls have existed elsewhere? Possibly, but I knew for sure they could exist here. And I really consider Lake Michigan -- Lake Michigan on the South Side of Milwaukee -- to be a character in the novel. It's a part of these girls, and they can't resist its pull. Like life, Lake Michigan is so much more vast than one can really fathom while at the same time one is always aware it is contained, not amorphous and endless in the way of the ocean."

"Girls in Peril" is the story of five neighborhood girls on the brink of their teenage years and the importance of the group ethic shines through in the author's use of a first person plural narrative voice. The girls play together, gossip together and learn about life together and then -- in a powerful twist -- one day everything changes.

The story is set in the late 1970s, a time that clearly is meaningful for Boren; after all it was the era of her youth. She says that moment in time is as important to her story as the location.

"Of course, the neighborhood is also quite particular, but not only in terms of place but in time. I certainly hope that some kids still get this sense of neighborhood growing up, the combination of freedom and watchfulness that exists in the novel, but I'm certain it's less likely today with all the scheduling, protections, and organized play kids have."

So, is "Girls in Peril" Boren's own story rendered in engaging, creative fiction?

"The book is autobiographical only insofar as the experience of coming-of-age is represented in the book. I remember quite keenly the trauma of the realization that one is alone in the world. So the movement I wanted to explore in the book is from that sense of a collective self who has little awareness of the world beyond the security of the immediate group to an individual self who is aware of the larger constructions of the world -- constructions such as class, race, etc. -- and one's individual placement within this larger world. Thus my hope is that the book conveys not only a sense of loss but also a sense of discovery.

"As to the actual girls in the story, I consider myself to be all of them and none of them. Some of them are my sisters, some friends, but no one girl is a particular person I ever knew."

Keen-eyed readers will recognize all sorts of nods to Milwaukee -- Sheridan Park, George Webb, WOKY, for example -- but don't forget "Girls in Peril" is a work of fiction, reminds Boren.

"As for the actual occurrences in the book, well, it's fiction, but it's also mythology, the mythology of youth and neighborhood. For example, I never knew anyone with an extra thumb, but my sister knew a girl who claimed to have been born with one that was removed at birth. As a child, such an amazing oddity as an extra thumb takes on fantastic significance, even when it isn't actual.

"As I say to my students, art is about artifice, creation, imagination. That's what makes any type of art so great. That said, part of the craft of fiction, realistic fiction anyway, is to make it feel real, which I hope this book does."

Boren lives far from Milwaukee these days, and she says that she's trying to get comfortable away from Brew City. But it's not always easy for a Cudahy girl.

"I enjoy living in Rhode Island now," says Boren. "My husband, Paul, and I live in a little seaside house, and I'm trying to understand the ocean -- although, seriously, what's with all the salt? But my true love is Milwaukee. I love its quirkiness. I love the people, the accent, the architecture, the history. I love the polka. I love the festivals. I still have family here, and I return as often as I can to see them. Each time I return, I walk and drive by the lake, and I feel like I've returned to my best friend."

Boren visits her best friend on Thursday, June 22 for a 7 p.m. reading at Schwartz Bookshop, 4093 N. Oakland Ave., in Shorewood. A couple weeks later, she says, you can hear her dad's polka band, The JBO at Sheridan Park on July 4 … rain or shine.

The Web site for Tin House Press, publisher of "Girls in Peril," is tinhouse.com.

14 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on Sept. 17, 2006 at 5:37 p.m. (report)

Tim Lemley said: I'll need to read this book. Just curious if I can recognize some of our classmates. Tim Lemley Class of 79 Holy Family Retired MSgt USAF San Antonio, TX

Posted by OMCreader on July 5, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. (report)

Joe Kupcho said: It would be very unfortunate for students to use this book in a class. The way the "peril" is portrayed is so incredibly superficial it is insulting to any intelligent reader. There are certain elements of the story that hold potential, but the character development is so shallow that this potential is completely wasted. My pre-teen daughter sees far more complexity in the people around her than the characters in this book. Let's hope this writer has moved on to better things.

Posted by OMCreader on July 3, 2006 at 11:12 a.m. (report)

k burge said: Even after 15 years of teaching I'm still amazed at how uninformed and superficial many readers are. Anyone who would find Ms. Boren's book boring is clearly looking for a mindless read. Girls in Peril is compelling, multifaceted, clever, and fun. I plan to use it in one of my classes this fall. Congratulations, Karen, on a great first book! I can't wait for what comes next!

Posted by OMCreader on June 29, 2006 at 7:48 a.m. (report)

N. Boren said: For those of you who felt the book centered on the extra thumb too much, you have totally missed the point. It about how children don't judge that which they take in the same way that adults do. Children can see something out of the ordinary and cherish it for it's difference instead of look down on it for not being the norm. You totally missed how Jeanne changed after not having that defining characteristic anymore. All in all, you just missed the point and obviously don't have good taste in literature. Life is about eccentricities and those things that make us different and unique. To call this book "boring" shows your obvious lack of originality. I AM a Boren, and in our family everyone is unique and different had has their glorious issues and differences. That is what seperates each of us and makes up appreciate each other. Quit being boring and take a class on GOOD literature... then reread the book. Maybe then you will see it in a better light.

Posted by OMCreader on June 28, 2006 at 9:28 a.m. (report)

Milwaukee native said: On the contrary, I found the book captured neighborhood exploits VERY well and created a sense of anticipation and foreboding from the start.