A fun, fast-paced tale set in the LA sugar-daddy dating scene.
A new-adult novel chronicles a college student’s adventures among older, wealthy men.
Nineteen-year-old Jasmine “Jazz” Lewis, a freshman at a Christian university in Los Angeles, is not finding romantic happiness among the immature guys at her school. Her best friend, Kita Okoye, is in desperate need of financial assistance after a fallout with her rich parents. An answer to both their problems comes suddenly from an unexpected source: “There was a documentary playing about a blonde college girl who joined a website called Searching Sweet Sugar. She described all the money she had made by having several sugar daddies, and she showed pictures of all the fancy vacations she was taken on.” Though at first horrified, Jazz soon becomes intrigued. Using the website, she and Kita are matched up with sugar daddies of their own, and life begins to get a lot more interesting. Pretty soon, all the girls in their dorm want in on the action, and Jazz finds herself running a sugar-daddy dating service. The cash starts flowing in, but it isn’t long before news of her activities comes to the attention of her parents, her school, and the public. After all, it’s a fine line between sugar dating and prostitution, and Jazz must be careful she doesn’t end up doing more for money than she ever intended. Lo (The Island, 2016, etc.) tells her story in a lively, snarky prose that allows the narrative to strut across the page. (Sample dialogue: “ ‘Where’d you get a roofie?’ Kita asked. ‘From a drug dealer in Dolce and Gabbana,’ I said.”) Punchy and fast-paced, the plot pulls the reader forward from the first chapter. While primarily a romp—Jazz is a sassy and self-deprecating narrator—the novel nevertheless manages to explore some of the more serious aspects of sugar dating. Occasional patches of clunky writing sometimes take the reader out of the account, but overall Lo has crafted an engaging, seductive, and unexpectedly empowering story of what a college girl will do to take control of the three things in life that most elude her: money, sex, and power.
A fun, fast-paced tale set in the LA sugar-daddy dating scene.Pub Date: March 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5406-9178-1
Page Count: 378
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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