What is the author's style in the novel, Young Jane Young?

The language of the novel changes throughout to fit the language of the character narrating each individual section. These changes suggest differences in their personalities and their worlds. The first section is narrated by Rachel, and the language in this section is often peppered with old Yiddish words. The title of the section itself, “Bubbe Meise” is Yiddish for Old Wive’s tale. In Rachel’s narration, she often throws in colorful Yiddish words to embellish her language, like for example: “we schmooze about books” (9). This addition of Yiddish words sets Rachel up as a Jewish character living within a world (Boca Raton) which is “92 percent Jewish” (11). Rachel’s section is also embellished with very casual addresses to the reader, that make it sound as if she is talking to an old friend: “I could sell it and make a killing, but honestly, where would I go? You tell me where I would go!” (12), or “Forestgreen’s where I met Roz, who’s been my best friend through some times, let me tell you” (12). This informal and direct address serve to create an old, genial narrator of Rachel: someone the reader can trust and feel comfortable around.

The language in Jane Young’s section is a bit colder than her mother’s. She is guarded and cautious about what she reveals, because she has been seriously hurt and scarred from the trauma of having the affair and her blog go public. Unlike Rachel, who is welcoming and excited to tell the reader about her life and her thoughts, Jane Young holds back. She narrates almost as if she is being asked questions that she is not necessarily thrilled to answer: “What else can I tell you? I like my work, but no, I did not see myself doing this when I was a kid. The thing I went to college to do, I didn’t end up doing for a variety of reasons” (67).

The language in Ruby’s section is unique in that Ruby is not narrating her perspective, she is writing emails to Fatima. And so the language is extremely casual and childish at time. Ruby is also incredibly smart and precocious, and so her vocabulary is high and sophisticated at times: “Your email was Very, Very, Very, Very , Extremely interesting and Not Even One Word Blasé and your English is Very Good even though you said it wasn’t. I’m super EXCITED that you joined FAW-PUH-PUH to work on your vocabulary because vocabulary is my ‘raison d'être.’ ‘Raison d'être’ means reason that you are alive. My other raison d'être is oxygen, ha ha” (107). This mix of colloquial and formal diction serves to show that Ruby is a complex character, despite her young age.