Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall

Mass, Wendy. 2007. Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall.

When sixteen-year old Tessa suffers a shocking accident in gym class, she finds herself in heaven (or what she thinks is heaven), which happens to bear a striking resemblance to her hometown mall. In the tradition of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, Tessa starts reliving her life up until that moment. She sees some things she'd rather forget, learns some things about herself she'd rather not know, and ultimately must find the answer to one burning question--if only she knew what the question was.

Dodgeball. It all starts with a game of dodgeball. Tessa, our narrator, finds a dodgeball heading straight for her head, and instead of ducking, she finds herself philosophizing about life in general and dodgeball in particular.

I could say, in my defense,
the dodgeball is made of rubber.
How much damage
could a rubber ball do?
I am sixteen.
My head is hard.

And who thinks aiming balls
at someone's head is a healthy pursuit
for teenagers hyped up on caffeine?
Apparently dodgeball is banned
in most schools now,
but our principal does not believe
in banning. Our school library
takes pride in its collection of books
that have been banned
elsewhere.

I'll pick up the text a few pages later...

I know the girl on the floor, the one
with her neck bent all weird,
I know the girl is me.
But I'm too busy soaring
toward Heaven to care.

And the thing that is most surprising,
the thing you might not know,
is that in the right light,
Heaven looks a lot like the mall.

Her "guide" whom she calls Nail Boy is going to show her her life through stuff...beginning with a tiny pink shoe....

A Barbie doll in a purple swimsuit
A princess costume
A white fluffy teddy bear with a red bow around the neck
A yellow plastic cup with a daisy on the side
A box of assorted crayons
A hairbrush
A plastic pencil box with Lisa Simpson on it
A small address book with a rainbow on it
A memo pad with my mom's name on it
A glass bowl
A bicycle horn
A Playboy magazine
A brown plastic barette
A sticker that says "I gave today"
A pack of Parliament Menthol Lights
An apron that says "Kiss the Cook"
A red bra
A bear slipper
A red t-shirt
A tube of cheesecake flavored lip gloss
A turquoise tank top
A pair of pink flip-flops
A roll of toilet paper
A large cookie
A bottle cap
A pair of ski goggles
A light blue prom dress

These items will be the medium through which we see Tessa as a person in her own story. What we learn, what she learns, is that she's not a good person. She repetitively has made bad decisions--decisions that subconsciously at least she's not proud of--bad mistakes. She's not nice. She's quite manipulative. The reader sees her--the good, the bad, the ugly--as she sees herself for perhaps the first time in a really long time. I think in part the reason she's reminded more of the negative choices, the negative character traits, is that those are the parts she's ashamed of deep down. (As opposed to her carefree, bubbly, happy times. And isn't it true that we as individuals dwell more on the negative than the positive??? At least when we're having a crisis of conscience???)

Her time in "heaven" may just teach her how to live the rest of her life as someone she can respect and love.

I have this to say about Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall. I may not "like" the narrator. I might find her a mean, manipulative person. But I cannot deny that she's human, authentic. No one is perfect. And this fictional character is quite fleshed out with strengths and weaknesses. So you've got to give credit where it's due.

I didn't love, love, love it. But I did enjoy this one. I liked it thoroughly.