THE THROWBACK LIST

WARNING: There is some language, mention of drugs, mention of hook-ups, promotion of a same-gender couple, and promotion of looking for a spouse who doesn't “push religion”.

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Three girls grew up in the same small beach town, but they lead very different lives:

Johanna is a 26-year-old, queer overachiever. She worked tirelessly for a big-time marketing company for the past five years, climbing the ladder from a free intern to a social media marketing executive, never looking back to the small town she left.

Bianca never moved out of her single mom’s house, which is still next-door to Johanna’s parents’ house. In high school, Bianca overshadowed Johanna with better grades and the position of the president of the honor’s society. Now, Bianca is married to Birdy and feels unsure about wanting to have kids (despite pressure from Birdy and others) after dealing with the responsibility of baby-sitting her grandmother. She manages the tattoo shop that her grandmother founded and is baffled when she learns that Jo was jealous of her during high school (since she was likewise jealous of Jo).

“Bianca Boria had been Jo’s pace car in high school. If Jo did well, Bianca did better. If Jo worked hard, Bianca worked harder. // While Jo did everything with sweat in her eyes and the wind in her hair, Bianca glided past her with an easy smile” (16).

“Jo Freeman had been jealous of her? The idea made Bee want to guffaw. Jo had grown up with everything Bee hadn’t: two parents, a sibling, friends, relationships” (137-138).

Autumn used to be best friends with Johanna, but her and Johanna grew apart when Jo moved away and prioritized her job over their friendship. Since then, Autumn became the new drama teacher for their old high school (which can be a frustrating role when the drama department’s “senior co-chair” doesn’t allow her to have complete authority). Autumn also became good friends with Biana, and Autumn’s parents got divorced (since her father, the Chief, cheated on her sweet mother, Cindy, with his mistress, Ginger, who he soon engages).

“Autumn climbed up into the passenger seat beside Florencio. Seat belt clicked, the Jeep jumped away from the curb, speeding off like they were racing someone up the empty street. Their mother liked to say that Flornecio drove like there was cake and ice cream at the finish line. Cindy Kelly had an adorably G-rated imagination” (26-27).

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TAKEAWAYS

When Johanna reluctantly moves back in with her parents, Bianca is afraid that she is going to lose her current best friend to Autumn’s old best friend.

“You are an only child, honeybee. Growing up alone means that you weren’t raised to share anything. Except your personal space” (79).

“It was something that Autumn and Jo had that Bee couldn’t reach: shared history. Sure, Autumn and Bianca had grown up in the same town, attended the same schools. But they’d been in different classes, different social clubs, cared about different school functions. // Jo had deep-sunk roots in Autumn’s life. Bee couldn’t trust that Jo wouldn’t rip them all out again. // ‘I was there the first time, too,’ she said. ‘They were like the best friends in a toy commercial. Linked arms and finishing each other’s --’ // ‘Sandwiches?’ Birdy asked innocently. // ‘Please don’t try to be cute when I’m ranting.’ She frowned at him. ‘Autumn puts a lot more faith in Jo than I would. I don’t want to see her get her hopes up.’ // ‘You gotta trust people, wifey,’ Birdy said with a yawn. He placed a clumsy peck on her cheek before disappearing behind his e-reader. ‘They won’t all disappoint you.’ // Not using one of her many useless swimsuits to strangle him made Biance the queen of restraint. She had an inbox full of disappointments as honeymoon refund confirmations continue to pour in” (81).

“Bee tried not to feel jealous. It would only prove Birdy right. // ‘Sharing friends is normal,’ she told her pouting inner child. ‘Great, even. When the people you love are happy, you have more reasons to be happy, too.’ // ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ said her inner child. // ‘Brat,’ Bee chided herself” (85).

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It can be good to challenge yourself to new things, even if they scare you.

When Jo finds the bucket list that she made in high school (of things to try in their boring small town), she realizes that she hasn’t yet achieved a single item. Some goals and tastes can change (as Jo discovers with her charcoal-and-hot-pink childhood bedroom color scheme), but some items on the list are still thought-provoking for many ages.

As Jo tackles the list, her old friendship with Autumn and her new friendship with Bianca strengthen.

As an added bonus, she has some fun stories to share at new job interviews to showcase her “youthful exuberance”.

As another added bonus, her posts on Instagram inspire other people to develop their own bucket lists (such as trying out donuts in every donut shop).

“It’s hard to try new things… What if you suck at them? We’re a culture obsessed with winning” (193).

“If you’re looking for the meaning of life, I haven’t found it. What I have found is that the most fun thing about being alive is the scariest damned part. You get to be whoever you want to be. Once you figure out who that person is. The guy I was back in my suit-and-tie days, up in Washington… Philip John Freeman the Third -- yeah, the whole name every time -- he couldn’t have been your dad, jo. He couldn’t have been anybody’s dad. My priorities changed, and that changed how I fit into the world” (358).

“Happy had never been Jo’s goal. She had lists for productivity and lists to kill time and lists for shopping and lists for chores. // Or was the Throwback List her list for happiness? What did that mean when she was so close to the end?” (359).