<div><p><i>The boy's coming-of-age story is about leaving home to save the world. The girl's coming-of-age story is about relinquishing the world beyond home. It is about finding a way to sacrifice one's yearning for the larger world and to be happy about it.</i></P><p><i>Surrendering Oz</i> is about giving up the safety of emotionally zoning out—about learning to think with the body. It is a memoir in essays that charts the emotional awakening of a bookish Bronx girl.</P><p><b>Bonnie Friedman</b> is the author of <i>Writing Past Dark</i>. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Texas.</div>