When you think the story couldn't get any worse, when CeeCee is twelve, her mother is hit and killed by an ice cream truck (The Happy Cow Ice Cream truck). Shortly thereafter, CeeCee's whisked away by her Great Aunt Tootie to Savannah, Georgia where she's immediately enveloped by love and kindness. In Savannah, she learns the true meaning of "family" and "friendship," discovers her inner fire, and slowly opens her heart and mind to the promise of the future.
Hoffman's writing style is clear and concise, her voice is silky-smooth and peppered with humor, her descriptions are vibrant, and her secondary cast of characters is three-dimensional and "unforgettable." Yeah. In case you haven't picked up on it, I absolutely loved this book. The author moved me to the point where I wanted nothing more than to see this little girl, abandoned by her father, flourish.
This book is a "must read" for all readers of young adult fiction and women's fiction. I'm dying to find out what the future holds for Little Miss CeeCee. I'll never look at southern ladies, slugs, and bras, quite the same way again. I'm sure you'll feel the same.
Click here to visit Beth Hoffman's website and to read her advice to writers.
Wow, this book sounds intriguing! I have to confess, for a long time I had a hangup about reading young adult fiction (I never read it growing up). But I eventually got over it. I'm so impressed by the heavy issues young adult works are now tackling.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, YA didn't exist. I ended up reading books at eleven and twelve that were probably on some censored list somewhere. I didn't care. I just wanted to read something that moved me. Now, as an adult it seems I spend more time in the YA section at the book store than anywhere else. I've regressed in age! *LOL* There's just something so palpable about that angst-ridden period that I can't resist. Perhaps I'm still twelve-years-old inside, trying to figure out the rest of my life.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I don't know for certain that SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT was intended to be a YA read. I automatically labeled it as YA because of the narrator's age. Even at twelve, CeeCee's maturity reflects that of a well-read child whose been forced to "grow-up" and adapt in order to survive. I really did love this book and wouldn't be surprised if we saw a movie made from it.
Before reading this, I'd had myself convinced that I couldn't write effectively in my protagonist's voice, when in reality what I really feared, was getting close enough to her to feel her pain. Reading SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT illustrated to me that it's okay to feel the pain. Perhaps as writers, feeling the pain by writing in the first person POV is how we touch the reader in a meaningful enough way to get our message across.
Thanks for the comment, Portia.
I was the same way growing up--my dad caught me hiding out in the bathroom reading his Stephen King when I was 9. And I was always snatching my mom's fantasy and romance novels!
ReplyDeleteNow that it's such a flourishing genre, I intend to keep reading young adult. I hope it will make me better able to recommend good books for my kids! And a good book is a good book, whatever its genre!
It seems great. I haven't read it yet--now I want to--but I'm rooting for CeeCee.
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