Evolution of a Smart Girl is a collection of short stories that chronicles the evolution of the modern American female. The stories are arranged in three parts: \"Dirty Barbie & Breakable Boys\" focuses on adolescent relationships between boys and girls; \"Some Things Can't Be Unbroken\" centers on Maggie and Charlie Copper's marriage after Maggie is diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of twenty-five; and \"Of Apples and Broken Scabs\" presents four stories about four very different women who experience heartbreak in love, friendship, and lust. This work explores the ways in which a girl's interactions with others shape her into the young woman she becomes. Through same-sex friendships, romantic relationships, and sibling rivalries, the women in these stories experience intellectual and sexual awakenings.
","abstract_html":"<p>Evolution of a Smart Girl is a collection of short stories that chronicles the evolution of the modern American female. The stories are arranged in three parts: "Dirty Barbie & Breakable Boys" focuses on adolescent relationships between boys and girls; "Some Things Can't Be Unbroken" centers on Maggie and Charlie Copper's marriage after Maggie is diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of twenty-five; and "Of Apples and Broken Scabs" presents four stories about four very different women who experience heartbreak in love, friendship, and lust. This work explores the ways in which a girl's interactions with others shape her into the young woman she becomes. Through same-sex friendships, romantic relationships, and sibling rivalries, the women in these stories experience intellectual and sexual awakenings.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lefante, Casey"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.F.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Film, Theatre, and Communication Arts","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Barton, Fredrick","Leake, Joanna","Boyden, Amanda"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:28:43Z","subjects":["Barbie","Brothers","Creative Writing","Evolution","Fiction","Games","MFA","New Orleans","Ovarian Cancer","Sexuality","Sisters"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/682","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Barton, Fredrick","Leake, Joanna","Boyden, Amanda"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lefante, Casey"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2027-08-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Film, Theatre, and Communication Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.F.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Barbie","Brothers","Creative Writing","Evolution","Fiction","Games","MFA","New Orleans","Ovarian Cancer","Sexuality","Sisters"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/682"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Evolution of a Smart Girl is a collection of short stories that chronicles the evolution of the modern American female. The stories are arranged in three parts: \"Dirty Barbie & Breakable Boys\" focuses on adolescent relationships between boys and girls; \"Some Things Can't Be Unbroken\" centers on Maggie and Charlie Copper's marriage after Maggie is diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of twenty-five; and \"Of Apples and Broken Scabs\" presents four stories about four very different women who experience heartbreak in love, friendship, and lust. This work explores the ways in which a girl's interactions with others shape her into the young woman she becomes. Through same-sex friendships, romantic relationships, and sibling rivalries, the women in these stories experience intellectual and sexual awakenings.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Evolution of a Smart Girl"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Barton, Fredrick","Leake, Joanna","Boyden, Amanda"],"dc:creator":["Lefante, Casey"],"dc:date.available":["2027-08-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Evolution of a Smart Girl is a collection of short stories that chronicles the evolution of the modern American female. The stories are arranged in three parts: \"Dirty Barbie & Breakable Boys\" focuses on adolescent relationships between boys and girls; \"Some Things Can't Be Unbroken\" centers on Maggie and Charlie Copper's marriage after Maggie is diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of twenty-five; and \"Of Apples and Broken Scabs\" presents four stories about four very different women who experience heartbreak in love, friendship, and lust. This work explores the ways in which a girl's interactions with others shape her into the young woman she becomes. Through same-sex friendships, romantic relationships, and sibling rivalries, the women in these stories experience intellectual and sexual awakenings.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/682"],"dc:subject":["Barbie","Brothers","Creative Writing","Evolution","Fiction","Games","MFA","New Orleans","Ovarian Cancer","Sexuality","Sisters"],"dc:title":["Evolution of a Smart Girl"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Film, Theatre, and Communication Arts"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.F.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:28:43Z"}