Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication date: January 2010
Pages: 320
Source: Library
For: Book Group
Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.Things I Liked:
The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.
I loved the home town southern feel of the town. I loved watching CeeCee get a chance to be loved and be happy. I enjoyed all the fun and quirky characters in the story and how they seemed to have an impact on CeeCee. It was a sad and sweet story and kept me interested in knowing just what would happen to CeeCee in the end.
Things I Didn't Like:
I wondered about why some of the characters were included (and the stories) that didn't seem to have any true purpose in the book (Tootie's sister?) Also, I love a good woman power story, really, but I sure wish CeeCee had been able to see a good male role model somewhere in the book. She was just surrounded by male idiots and none of the women had much good to say about any man. Taylor was the exception, but we didn't see much of him either. I just think that as much as she needed that woman power and the wonderful ladies surrounding her, a decent man somewhere in the story, even if he didn't have much of a role, would have been a good addition. Also, the vignette feel of the story made it seem rather disjointed and choppy to me. And there were a few contrivances near the end that seemed to wrap it all up a little too neatly. But, I did enjoy reading it, promise. :)
Read-alikes:
A tiny bit like The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
some
mrg-factor: X
mostly implied stuff
v-factor: none
Overall rating: ***
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
It sounds cute but maybe a little agenda-y? I don't know. The synopsis reminds me of a Sarah Addison Allen book.
ReplyDeleteI think it was just me that thought it felt agenda-y in our book group. Oh, I think it would be kind of like Sarah Addison Allen stuff, though I think I've only read one of hers...
DeleteI'm glad to see you thought the same thing I did about the lack of good male role models in the book. I brought that up in our book club and no one really agreed with me there. I would have been happy with just one. I did like the girl power theme but just one good guy would have been great. And I didn't really count Taylor since he wasn't really a main character.
ReplyDelete