A sincere, endearing coming-of-age tale about a daughter and her single mom.
A teen discovers her mother’s old diary in this debut YA novel.
Now that she’s almost 16, Velvet Underwood is old enough to ask her mother for the truth about her father. He left them both when Velvet was just 6 months old. “My mama has a past, one she’s proud of (so she says), and in Sack City everyone knows everyone’s business (so she also says),” narrates Velvet. “And maybe she’s right, because it’s no secret Mama was involved with Diamond Jim, my daddy.” Velvet knows little about Diamond Jim other than that he was handsome, good at bowling, and drove a Cadillac. (Her mother is happy to tell Velvet that she was named for the material of the car’s back seat, on which she was conceived.) She also knows her mother, the wine-slugging Lynette, is much whispered about around Sack City, a straight-laced town where people “act like Jesus is the mayor.” Then one night, Velvet finds Lynette’s diary and can’t help herself from taking a look inside, figuring—correctly—it might contain a few more facts about the mysterious Diamond Jim. It does, but they are not at all the tidbits that Velvet was hoping to discover. For one thing, she learns that there was a baby conceived in the back of Diamond Jim’s Cadillac early in her parents’ courtship—but it wasn’t Velvet. The miscarriage is just one of a number of very adult facts that color the image Velvet has long held in her mind about her parents, and the revelations arrive just as she’s beginning to take her own first steps into romance. Velvet decides she needs to meet Diamond Jim and maybe convince him to come back to Lynette. But will Velvet’s meddling in Lynette’s private life help provide her with a better sense of her origins or simply confuse things even further?
Strommen’s prose, as narrated by Velvet, is buoyant and earnest, as here when her first date asks if it’s OK to kiss her: “Bobby Johnson is going to kiss me. Oh Lord Jesus, he’s going to kiss me! I want to ask Mercy what she thinks, but I can’t. I have to act fast. I decide it has to happen sometime—most girls my age have already had their first kiss.” The novel is set in the South some indeterminate number of decades in the past, and the whole book is infused with a heavy dose of nostalgia. The tone may prove a bit treacly for some, but beneath it, the characters, particularly Lynette and her own mother, Ditty, brim with pathos. Sack City manages to come off as cruel and homey at the same time, and Velvet’s circle—which includes her best friend, Mercy, and eventually Bobby—provides a safe place from which she can consider the struggles of the previous generations. It’s a sentimental tale for sure, but one that many readers will enjoy quite a bit.
A sincere, endearing coming-of-age tale about a daughter and her single mom.Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2022
ISBN: 9798985024296
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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