Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore

Set in Depression-era Chicago, Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore by Marci Stillerman, focuses on three main characters that live near Kenmore Avenue, most of them immigrants. There is also talk of the "rich kids" that live on Sheridan Road near Evanston, where the maids often walk the dogs and it is quiet and serene.

Fred is a quiet Jewish kid who enjoys drawing and who lives with his Ma. He doesn't know what to make of his feelings for a boy named Zane, and he knows he likes girls as friends but nothing more. Fred befriends Zane and his friends to fit in, mainly having relations with a chubby girl named Maizy since she's dubbed easy by most of the guys in the group. He later regrets the small amount of fooling around he does with her, but later becomes good friends with Maizy and grows fond of talking with her.

Zane is the town minister's son who could never live up to his father's expectations. He is often afraid of "the Rev" as he is called, and does what he can to keep peace in the house so he doesn't have his prized possesion, his Chevy, taken away from him. Zane often tries to show off to the guys like Marko, to make them believe he's some sort of ladies man when really the only girl who will give him a decent shot is Maizy, who is crazy about him even though he could care less about her. There is a scene where Zane forces himself upon Maizy and she later becomes pregnant by the incident. She questions this later on, wondering if it could be considered a rape though it is very apparent to the reader that it is indeed.

Maizy is often labeled the girl who would do anything, having low self-esteem and looking for love. She lives with her Pa and her little brother, Joey, who is mentally challenged. She takes on a wife roll, managing the house and tending after Joey while her Pa is off working. Her Ma died early on, and it is obvious that this girl could have used a strong female role model in her life, most importantly to talk to and bond with. In her quest for love, she wants to keep the child she is carrying and marry Zane, something that would never happen. She is definitely portrayed as a very naive girl, one who is searching for love and acceptance from men especially.

The situation that binds the three is a murder that took place where a little girl named Marta died of a brutal rape and asphyxiation, and thereafter her hand was cut off and thrown in the lake. The police are on the lookout for the hand to close the case and bring closure to the parents. Maizy befriends a lady named Anna who was Marta's mother. The two begin talking, and Maizy soon realizes that she knows the man who murdered little Marta. Fred and Zane also figure out the same thing, though by different means. All three teens feel this is something they could never share with each other, nor with the world so it has become a big secret except for Fred who finds it in himself to turn in a key piece of evidence that eventually makes its way to the Chicago Tribune headlines.

I think the feelings that each teen holds is something most people could relate to on some level: not feeling as though they fit in, hoping for something that might never be, thinking their parent doesn't accept who they really are, being naive to some aspect to life. This was a very interesting look into the 1930's, and one that I would recommend to both adults and teens.