--- product_id: 37334278 title: "The Year of Needy Girls" price: "132.35 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 7 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/37334278-the-year-of-needy-girls store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Year of Needy Girls **Price:** 132.35 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Year of Needy Girls - **How much does it cost?** 132.35 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/37334278-the-year-of-needy-girls) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description desertcart.com: The Year of Needy Girls: 9781617754876: Smith, Patricia A.: Books Review: A page turner that is hard to put down . . . - In the realm of human behavior, there is little that Shakespeare, the bard of Avalon did not illuminate, including the three Witches of Macbeth. They were wise women and seers, and therefore to be feared. But stories and characters continually reinvent themselves. Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, and Sarah Good of Salem, Massachusetts were tried and executed for the crime of witchcraft in 1692, and in contemporary times, Patricia A. Smith gives us The Year of Needy Girls. In the shadow of Salem, the fictional village of Bradley Massachusetts is a bifurcated town composed of the wealthy west end and the working class poor of the east end where neither side trusts or understands the other. In this backdrop, Smith weaves the story of a gifted French language teacher, Deidre Murphy with her needy girls, the incoming class of freshman students. They are girls from wealthy families, girls of privilege. They idolize clothes, pop culture and occasionally a teacher or two. In this story the teacher is gay and lives with her partner SJ, who is a local librarian. And so the witch hunt begins anew. Deidre and SJ become the modern heretics of polite convention—and what better place to illuminate that than in an elite high school for girls? With skilled pacing, Smith’s The Year of Needy Girls is a page turner that is hard to put down. The characters, which include not only Deidre and JS, but the town as well, are well drawn and relatable. Like dominoes, the pieces tumble into the sort of circumstances that defy fiction. In the end, the world is a place where reason and intellect do not necessarily resolve what seems straightforward, but personal resilience, and introspection pave the way forward. Highly recommend! Review: interesting book. Meet the author yesterday at book club ... - interesting book. Meet the author yesterday at book club. I can not wait for her next book ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #2,092,615 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #438 in LGBTQ+ Family Life Fiction (Books) #1,656 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books) #14,714 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction | | Customer Reviews | 4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars (85) | | Dimensions | 5.3 x 1 x 8.3 inches | | ISBN-10 | 1617754870 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1617754876 | | Item Weight | 10.4 ounces | | Language | English | | Print length | 336 pages | | Publication date | January 3, 2017 | | Publisher | Kaylie Jones Books | ## Images ![The Year of Needy Girls - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+8PYN9i7L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A page turner that is hard to put down . . . *by M***L on January 3, 2017* In the realm of human behavior, there is little that Shakespeare, the bard of Avalon did not illuminate, including the three Witches of Macbeth. They were wise women and seers, and therefore to be feared. But stories and characters continually reinvent themselves. Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, and Sarah Good of Salem, Massachusetts were tried and executed for the crime of witchcraft in 1692, and in contemporary times, Patricia A. Smith gives us The Year of Needy Girls. In the shadow of Salem, the fictional village of Bradley Massachusetts is a bifurcated town composed of the wealthy west end and the working class poor of the east end where neither side trusts or understands the other. In this backdrop, Smith weaves the story of a gifted French language teacher, Deidre Murphy with her needy girls, the incoming class of freshman students. They are girls from wealthy families, girls of privilege. They idolize clothes, pop culture and occasionally a teacher or two. In this story the teacher is gay and lives with her partner SJ, who is a local librarian. And so the witch hunt begins anew. Deidre and SJ become the modern heretics of polite convention—and what better place to illuminate that than in an elite high school for girls? With skilled pacing, Smith’s The Year of Needy Girls is a page turner that is hard to put down. The characters, which include not only Deidre and JS, but the town as well, are well drawn and relatable. Like dominoes, the pieces tumble into the sort of circumstances that defy fiction. In the end, the world is a place where reason and intellect do not necessarily resolve what seems straightforward, but personal resilience, and introspection pave the way forward. Highly recommend! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ interesting book. Meet the author yesterday at book club ... *by K***Y on July 19, 2017* interesting book. Meet the author yesterday at book club. I can not wait for her next book ### ⭐⭐⭐ Not a Mystery/Thriller *by D***H on January 8, 2017* The Year of Needy Girls wasn't quite what I expected. From the publisher's description, I was anticipating a mystery/thriller centered on the murder of 10-year-0ld Leo Rivera and the accusations of molestation against teacher Deirdre Murphy. Instead, these events are fairly tangential to the book's true subject matter: the lesbian relationship between Deirdre and her partner Sara Jane (S.J.) Edmonds. This mismatch between expectation and reality caused me to appreciate The Year of Needy Girls less than might have otherwise been the case; the narrative was slower-paced, and I became impatient because I kept wanting to get to the action. The gist of the plot goes something like this. Leo is sexually molested before his murder; therefore, in the town's eyes, the murderer must be gay. Deirdre is a lesbian who is caught apparently kissing one of her students; this serves to confirm that homosexuals sexually prey upon children. As the mother of the allegedly molested teenager tells her daughter, "'Homosexuals are known predators. ... They have to convert children. I know it sounds silly, but that's what they do.'" (No, Mrs. Worthington, this doesn't sound silly; it sounds ridiculously ignorant for a wealthy resident of liberal Massachusetts in 2016.) Therefore, not only must Deirdre be fired, but the town seriously considers a referendum prohibiting homosexuals from working in (and attending?) schools: "'Homosexuals are not safe for our children,'" says Leo's father. I don't doubt that the LGBTQ community suffers from bias. I don't doubt that, at least in some communities, lesbian partners face pressures on their relationships which would be foreign to most heterosexual couples (although, as The Year of Needy Girls makes clear, no relationship, regardless of sexual orientation, is immune from jealousy or work demands). What beggars belief is that anyone in this day and age, particularly in the Northeast, would openly espouse the level of homophobia Patricia Smith attributes to Mrs. Worthington, Mr. Rivera, and the other residents of Bradley, Massachusetts. When Smith focuses on Deirdre and S.J. as a couple, The Year of Needy Girls rings true. The framing narrative she has chosen, however, leaves much to be desired. This review was based on a free ARC provided by the publisher. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/37334278-the-year-of-needy-girls](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/37334278-the-year-of-needy-girls) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-11-10*