Girl Parts by John M. Cusick (August 2010)

The Companion wasn’t just beautiful; she was his kind of beautiful. Tumbling red, pouty mouth, emerald eyes, and that small, soft body he liked. With his crew, David hollered after spindly supermodel  types. But privately he liked girls round in all the right places. And this girl was round in all the right places (p 33).

Tagline: Every boy deserves a companion… specifically calibrated to fit his needs
This is a review of an advance reader copy received at BEA.

Reading the back cover of this book immediately brought to mind Chobits, a manga written by the talented Japanese artists known as CLAMP, about Persocoms – robots that look like humans and act (somewhat) like humans. Read more about Chobits at AnimeNewsNetwork.

The same idea is employed in Cusick’s Girl Parts. In the near future, human-like robots can be ordered from a company called Sakura Solutions. (If there was any doubt about the author’s awareness of Chobits, it is dispelled. ‘Sakura’ means Cherry Blossom is Japanese.) Still in their test phase, the robotic girls are being used to befriend youngsters as a form of therapy. Should the boys attempt too much interaction with their luscious Companion, they get an electric shock.

According to the Sakura Solutions’ Companion Program Welcome Presentation, ”Interpersonal relationships are increasingly crowded out by electronic distractions” in our digital age (p 41). David’s parents are worried he is becoming disconnected after he watches a live feed of a teen girl’s suicide. With their abundant financial resources, they order David a Companion, Rose.

On the social scale, David ranks top. His neighbor across the lake and classmate, Charlie, ranks last. Happier on his own than posturing for peers, Charlie is a nature boy whose awkwardness with girls is irrelevant with Rose, whom he knows is ‘fake’ and lacking essential girl parts.

Great literature doesn’t provide answers but instead challenges us to question our reality, our behavior, our assumptions. I can see where Cusick is headed, but I don’t think he is entirely successful. (I thought M.T. Anderson was much more convincing in setting a believable and frightening stage for futuristic computer-based technology in Feed.) There was a disconnect between Rose’s futuristic complexity and the ubiquity of current technology like cell phones and multiple monitors (smart ads are already in use as well).

This is a good book (many teens boys will probably find it satisfying!) but it doesn’t elevate to greatness, though I think it could (while still striking the popular chord). While Chobits uses a similar setup, Cusick is clearly tapping into a contemporary and concerning trend and I think it could be more. I’m curious to know what editing stage it’s in and what (if anything) will be changed for the final publication.

I would recommend this book to older teens. There’s drug use, alcohol and sex – the big three.