Tag: Coming of Age

ECONOGAL > Coming of Age

Fake Famous Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

Young Adult

Fake Famous by Dana L. Davis is a delightful novel. A blend between a sweet romance and a coming-of-age novel, the story will appeal to a wide range of readers. Even though the concept of strangers switching identities is not new, Ms. Davis offers a fresh, contemporary take.

This selection is a library check-out. The back cover described a prior Davis novel as a YA or Young Adult. Since I am trying to expand genres in my reviews, I quickly picked up Fake Famous. I am happy I did.

Red Morgan-Star of Fake Famous

Red Morgan is a hard-working Iowa farm girl. Her ginger hair is passed down through a Creole ancestor. The opening scenes depict her loyalty to her family and their farm. Additionally, the author provides glimpses of the difficulties farm families have in making ends meet.

The protagonist hits her 15 minutes of fame when her younger sister’s video goes viral. Red is singing when a fence gives out and she falls into a large pile of manure. She doesn’t miss a beat and poses like the famous diva Zay-Zay Waters. Unbeknownst to Red, Zay-Zay has just dyed her hair red and sees the viral video. And, hatches up a scheme. Zay-Zay needs some alone time.

Fake Famous Plot

Harkening back to Mark Twain’s The Prince and The Pauper, Zay-Zay suddenly appears on the farm with a monetary deal Red can’t pass up. The pop star wants Red to fill her shoes for a week of glamorous appearances. Meanwhile, Zay-Zay will go on a soul-finding retreat. The only catch is Red must interact with Koi Kalawai’a, a fellow singing sensation and boyfriend to Zay-Zay. Except, he’s not.

Apparently Hollywood romances are fake too. But the chemistry between Koi and Red is real and so the complications begin. In addition to romance, Davis provides an insiders look into the lives of the rich and famous. Between the paparazzi and the fakeness, it is a different kind of hard work.

Recommendation

Fake Famous is an enjoyable read. The attraction between Red and Koi moves the story forward as each provides growth for the other. The secondary characters are well-developed and add to the story line. The romance is sweet, and the coming-of-age story is insightful. This is the first novel I have read from Dana Davis, but it won’t be the last. A great novel for young teens to adults.

You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

First Time Author

Frances Macken’s debut novel You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here is a coming of age story. And a bit more. Friendships, families and a mysterious disappearance pull the reader along.

The novel begins and ends in Glenbuff, Ireland. Sandwiched in between this rural setting is an important stint in Dublin for the main character, Katie. But is that all there is to the world?

Protagonist

Complex, altering between secure and insecure, mature and immature, loyal and disloyal best describes Katie. Her tight knit group of friends extends to two cousins, Evelyn and Maeve. One rich and one poor. And a pair of brothers. On the fringes is the girl gone missing.

Katie makes new friends and acquaintances in Dublin as she completes school and starts out in life. Or at least she tries to make a go of things.

Family is also a key component of Katie’s life. Parents and a younger brother influence her decision-making. Sometimes, they make the decision for her as they prod her through life. Letting go is a hard part of parenting.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the author’s character development is the accuracy of how people interrelate. Macken involves the reader as if a bystander. Present but unable to interfere. Just watching as Katie develops into an independent thinker.

You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here

The title alludes to the rural life of Glenbuff. Furthermore, the idea transfers across boundaries and borders. Cities come complete with their attractions in place for discovery, but the rural areas of the world rely on imagination. Another level exists besides physical location. Growth and maturity are not guarantees. Perhaps this is easier to see in a small town.

Frances Macken wrote You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here in first person. As an American, I struggled at first with the dialogue. Yet Macken’s writing is so profound the extra effort is well worth it. Katie’s inner struggles are so relatable, and so meaningful.

I highly recommend this debut novel. Hopefully Macken is working on her next release. This book is a winner and book clubs, classrooms and bedside tables are all better with a copy from this new author.

Girl Out of Water Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman is a YA (Young Adult) with some depth. Anise Sawyer is a seventeen year old surfer girl looking View of Pacific Ocean from atop a cliff.forward to a summer on the waves before starting her last year of high school. Life is good—or at least as much as it can be for a teenager with a Mom who floats in an out of life with years between visits.

But Anise arrives home after a wonder filled day of possible summer love and friendship to news that her last summer of high school will be spent in land locked Nebraska. Her Aunt Jackie-her mother’s sister- has been severely injured. Both Anise and her Dad fly out to help with the three cousins.

Coming of Age

Girl Out of Water is definitely a coming of age story. Anise changes from a carefree teenager to one with responsibilities. She must face her own disappointments while caring for her young cousins, twin boys and their sister who is embarking on the teen years herself.

But author Laura Silverman throws extra wave curls at Anise. As her young protagonist becomes more involved in her cousin’s lives, Silverman introduces a solid thread of diversity to the story. Anise meets single-armed adoptee Lincoln. And starts to lose touch with her surfer buddies back home.

Girl Out of Water Themes

There are several themes running through Girl Out of Water. First is one of non-traditional families. Anise has a mom who floats in and out of life. So, Anise hopes to find some understanding while staying at the home her mom grew up in. Her cousins, having a father who had passed away, now worry about losing their Mom. Finally, Lincoln is an adoptee who has moved many times in his young life. His roots are not tied to a geographical location.

Another theme is meeting new challenges. Surfer girl endeavors to learn skateboarding. This is a greater challenge than Anise first thought, but she wants to best Lincoln. Yet in the end Anise falls for Lincoln even though he is always eager to find new places. Her complete opposite. Of course Anise just yearns for the ocean.

Lastly, Silverman writes of introspection. Anise realizes at the end of summer that she did not keep in touch with her surfer friends back home. She becomes fearful that she may be her mother’s child after all.

Recommended Readers

While Girl Out of Water would fit the definition of a sweet romance-no sexual scenes, I still hesitate recommending for very young teens. There are scenes involving heavy drinking and allusions to drug use.

But, Silverman does a nice job of illustrating the strength of diversity. Furthermore, her message on the importance of family and not necessarily the traditional family unit is solid. These messages are a positive. So, I believe Girl Out of Water is appropriate for mid-teens and up.

However, I found a few circumstances hard to believe. As a parent, I would not readily allow a seventeen year old daughter travel by car from Nebraska to California with an eighteen year old male. Sex talk or not.

Nor did I understand the self-doubt of Anise. But perhaps it has been too many years since I was a teenager. Friends are important. But as so wonderfully illustrated by the character of Lincoln, self-worth is key.

Stay Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde could be a novel that is off putting and even depressing. The subject matter is heavy. Two young teenagers growing up in dysfunctional homes. One lady, unwilling to face life due to a mistake many years before. Oddly, I found the story uplifting and the characters heartwarming. I attribute my response to the wonderful writing and message of the author.

The setting is small town America at the height of the Vietnam War. In a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone else. Or at least they think they do. Furthermore, forgiveness can be difficult. Small town folks can out-do elephants with their memories.

Cast of Characters

Young Lucas Painter escapes the constant bickering of his parents and his deep concern about his older brother making it home from Vietnam by running through the woods. His running companions are two large dogs that live with their owner.

Zoe Dinsmore is the fiftyish owner of the dogs. Her abode is a small shack hidden in the woods without a real road connecting to town. She has never put the pain of an accident behind her. Lucas saves her just in time.

Connor Barnes is Lucas’ best friend. His parents don’t fight. They just don’t speak. Together, Lucas and Zoe save Connor.

Dialogue to Remember

Meaningless dialogue in either fiction or life is just that, meaningless. But I did not find hollow words in Stay. Instead, there were multiple passages of note. Paragraphs of dialogue to be outlined for an English literature class. Words to remember. One of my favorite passages involves a conversation between Connor and Lucas. At fourteen, Connor has figured out the key to living. Something many never achieve.

(Connor): “It’s like…..,” he began. Then he faded, and I thought I might never know. “Zoe almost died. Well, you know that. You know it better than anybody. I guess she felt like nobody needed her around. But I do. I need her around. But she didn’t know it yet because she hadn’t even met me. But she was just about to meet me. All those years thinking nobody needed her or wanted her around, and she was just about to meet me and she didn’t know it. You get what I’m driving at?”

(Lucas): “I’m not sure,” I said.

(Connor): “Well…now I’m starting to think…you don’t know what might be coming next. And it might even be something nice. Something good, even though everything before it wasn’t good at all. You see where I’m going with this?”

(Lucas): You’re saying you have to stick around to see what happens next.”

I watched his face light up, and I knew I had hit it.

(Connor): “I knew you’d get it,” he said.

(Excerpt from Stay, Page 201.)

Stay is Lasting

The novel Stay is the first work that I have read by Catherine Ryan Hyde. But, it is not the first time she has made an impact on my life. Hyde is also the author of Pay It Forward. I neither read the book nor saw the subsequent movie, but for the past twenty years have taken the concept to heart.

While the title Stay will not make the impact of Pay It Forward on our language and culture, the novel has “staying” power. This book belongs in the curriculum of literature classes. There is a depth and wisdom and good. The characters struggle and grow and find not only the meaning of life, but the importance of living that life. I highly recommend Stay. We all need a Zoe in our lives. Maybe, just maybe, you are that Zoe someone needs.