Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

In Z.Z. Packer’s book “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere”, I read the short excerpt titled “Brownies”. This section of the book talks about a young troop’s journey on a Brownie field trip in the wilderness. The girls come from middle class families and seem to be particularly annoyed by the “Caucasian Chihuahua’s” exiting from the next bus over.
“Troop 909 was doomed from the first day of camp; they were white girls, their complexions a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla. They turtled out from their bus in pairs, their rolled-up sleeping bags chromatized with Disney characters: Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Mickey Mouse; or the generic ones cheap parents bought: washed-out rainbows, unicorns, curly-eyelashed frogs. Some clutched Igloo coolers and still others held on to stuffed toys like pacifiers, looking all around them like tourists determined to be dazzled.”
Packer beautifully illustrates the ideas of the girls with meticulous detail. I feel as if I am there with the girls watching the girls arrive at camp. She paints an amazing picture with symbolism, ideas, emotions and pictures.
Another quote I enjoyed was from one of the campers talking about their teacher.
“She wore enormous belts that looked like that kind weightlifters wear, except hers would be cheap metallic gold, or rabbit fur or covered with gigantic fake sunflowers, and often these belts would become mature lessons in and of themelves.”
Again the author uses specific detail through imagery so that the reader can relate to her story. And since her descriptions are so vivid, it makes you not want to stop reading. (260 words).