A quick-witted, delightful read, Shiny Girl (Inch #60), published as part of Bull City Press’s Inch series, is full of whimsy and vivid imagery. It’s as surreal as it is surprising and as introspective as it is imaginative. From a bride who chomps and consumes her groom (“ate him, hat and all”) to feral cats with opinions on the “legacy of domestication”, the pages are chock full of unexpected encounters and revelations. Creativity is in full bloom in this fun and thought-provoking take on life’s many forms. Beneath its inviting and inventive prose, the collection takes on serious topics of infinite and infinitely complex relationships with a degree of levity that paves a hopeful path forward despite the rocky terrain.
Gorgeous images, including a Carolina wren that “butters the hot afternoon with song”, “spiders as big as Frisbees in the bathtub” and “a larky sky” that “shimmers as clear as blue jelly” are as instructive for the writer as they are prompts for personal reflection for readers of all interests and backgrounds.
In “Fugacity”, students practice the art of observation and seeing things that usually don’t receive attention. Shiny Girl works in similar ways. Through tiny stories exploring big themes—holiday trips, memories of vacations as kidnappings, innocence “bobbing along in the wide blue sea”, raised hands and “Early Marriage”, unplanned pregnancies “when Bill ought to have been writing, he’d distracted himself and banged out a human being instead of a poem” , separations, reunifications, and depression (“Do trees ever get depressed?”[42], Gingher’s love of language and life is contagious. She writes with levity and whimsy that is uniquely hers and Shiny Girl’s alone. Even as she explores difficult topics, Gingher weaves hope into spaces otherwise susceptible to despair.
From “Dear Fred”
You used to say I was your gift from God. Well,
your gift died, but then come a miracle, it growed
wings
to
“Beautiful Weather”
Going out for a little walk I tell you. Just need some
air. Back soon.
What if this day becomes the most beautiful sum-
mer day that’s ever happened? What if it’s the day of
last chances?
The collection is a powerful reminder to remain observant, so as not to miss life’s sun and the sunlight, the kind that “spangles the wingtips of birds, insects, the prick points of leaves” and flames “here and there rather hopelessly like fool’s gold”, that pulses throughout the work’s pages.
With boys who pull dreams out of caps, spiders caught in their own web, and cats that enjoy mathematics, this 63-page work will surely inspire a reader’s full complement of senses. The stories are delightfully re-readable, akin to the nine-lives of the cats that lurk within the collection’s pages. They delight– again and again. Pick and choose pieces to pair. You won’t be disappointed.
Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. She loves words, experimental poetry, and the change of seasons. She’s also a fan of late nights, crossword puzzles, and compelling underdogs. She has authored several chapbooks and full-length poetry collections, with stories, poems, and essays published in a variety of literary and scholarly journals. Sample works include Invisible Ink, On Habits & Habitats, On Daily Puzzles: (Un)locking Invisibility, A Collection of Recollections, and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups. She is currently working on her first series, which (not surprisingly) includes a novel in verse. She is the 2022-2023 Montgomery County PA Poet Laureate.