Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl

Faye's mother beats her with an extension cord. Faye, her friends, and her mother all engage in hitting and punching, and in one altercation Faye is nearly suffocated with a pillow. Fights and beatings are described realistically but not in great detail and without blood or gore. The pivotal incident in which a woman is knocked unconscious and abandoned is the only one for which we see any consequences, but not from authority figures.

Two deep kisses with tongue are described, and the boy wants Faye to "feel something" adults will know is his erect penis, although it's not specifically named. Faye's friends discuss what each "base" means but no body parts are mentioned. Faye's first menstrual period is described vaguely, from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about it (she thought she sat on spilled Hi-C), and concentrates mainly on her mother's unhelpful reaction. Faye and her friends look at a Hustler magazine and describe what they see, but again without mentioning any body parts except the big-breasted woman on the cover.

Faye asks, "What the hell am I, a dog?" and refers to a "fat-ass" cashier. In one confrontation a character says "s--t" repeatedly, and elsewhere something is a "crock of s--t."

Faye sneaks alcohol on two occasions, is not caught, and suffers no consequences from authority figures. She mentions one positive effect of alcohol (conversation changes topic frequently) and one negative effect (you have to pee a lot). At her mother's command, Faye mixes alcoholic drinks for adults, and is also told to add rum to a cake mix for a "grown folks" dessert. Adults drink alcohol (not always prepared by Faye) in social or holiday situations. Her mother smokes.