Review of Girl, Unframed by Deb Caletti

Caletti, Deb.  Girl, Unframed.  Simon Pulse, 2020.

Sixteen-year-old Sydney “Syd” Reilly has a great life in Seattle.  She lives with Edwina, her loving grandmother, and has plenty of friends.  She goes to a wonderful school where she is on the rowing team and loves art.  Syd really wants to stay home for the summer, but unfortunately, she is obligated to spend it with her mother in San Francisco.

 

Syd’s mother, Lila Short, is a washed-up movie star.  Although she is beautiful, she is also spoiled, immature, manipulative, and controlling.  Lila loves herself and her life much more than she loves her daughter.  She wants Syd to call her “Lila” instead of a maternal title.

 

Syd arrives at the San Francisco Airport and is met, not by Lila, but by a man named Jake, who is Lila’s new boyfriend.   Giacomo “Big Jake” Antonetti is supposedly a realtor and art dealer.  Lila wants Jake to pick Syd up at the airport so she can meet him and spend time getting to know him.  Much to Lila’s dismay and annoyance, Syd does not warm to Jake.

 

The rest of the summer is a up and down experience for Syd as she navigates Lila and Jake’s relationship and screaming fights, which come to blows on many occasions.  Syd begins a relationship with Nicco Ricci, who is about to graduate from high school.  Syd is receiving a lot of unwanted attention from a number of men, including Jake, which makes her feel uncomfortable.

 

Nicco and Syd’s relationship deepens as they spend a lot of their time at the beach and at unusual landmarks around San Francisco.  The tension at Lila’s house comes to a head during a fight between Lila and Jake and leads to a surprising, disastrous result for all involved.

 

Deb Caletti, who has published more than twenty young adult novels, has added another stunner to her arsenal.  Girl, Unframed is a real page-turner, full of significant, painful ordeals that many girls and women experience.  The novel deals with feminism and a young girl’s coming of age and her sexuality.

 

The descriptions of historical places in San Francisco are detailed, lush, and accurate.  I had not heard of many of them, and I did some research to learn more.  There is some foreshadowing in the book, foretelling a disastrous event; Sydney feels dread, and her friend, Meredith, warns her that Lila’s house is not safe.  Chapter headings provide hints as to what has happened via courtroom exhibit listings from a crime investigation and trial.

 

The author handles the double standard of morals between men and women adeptly, alluding to the way women are expected to behave versus how men see them.  While Syd feels lonely, moody, and restless, she also experiences feminine power.  Framing is worked into the plot expertly—in the title, Jake’s “profession”, the description of art pieces, and the way in which women’s sexuality is portrayed.

 

Girl, Unframed’s many themes deal with friendship, first love, sexual harassment, and domestic abuse.  Hand it to fans of contemporary dramas and mysteries.  I recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it four out of five fleur de lis!

 

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for allowing me to read and review this book.

Review of Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Sepetys, Ruta.  Out of the Easy.  Philomel, 2013.

Josie Moraine, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a prostitute, lives in Charlie Marlowe’s bookstore, where she also works, in the New Orleans French Quarter.  Josie’s mother, Louise, has never been a maternal figure, instead preferring the company of men to that of her daughter.  Josie has had to grow up fast; she learned to make martinis when she was seven years old.   By age eleven, she had found a home at the bookstore, while her mother lived at Willie Woodley’s New Orleans brothel and kept company with Cincinnati, a known associate of Carlos Marcello, the godfather of the New Orleans mafia.

Josie longs to leave New Orleans and her past life behind.  When she and Patrick, Charlie’s son, meet Charlotte Gates, Josie sees her chance to get out of New Orleans.  She applies to Smith College in Northampton, MA, where Charlotte is a student.  Unfortunately, getting out of New Orleans is not easy.  It seems that at every turn, Josie’s mother is there trying to pull Josie down to her level.  Cincinnati is always nipping at Josie’s heels, and people assume she will turn out just like her mother.

Thank goodness Josie has friends that take an interest in her and care about her.  From Cokie, the cab driver, to Willie, the brothel madam, to the prostitutes that work for Willie, and Jesse, the flower salesman---they all want protect her and help her to succeed in life.

When a murder happens to a visitor in the French Quarter, Josie feels that it is not a heart attack, like the coroner has ruled.  She tries to hide evidence while she figures out the mystery but becomes a victim, herself.  Now that her admittance to Smith and her tuition is in jeopardy, how will she ever find a way to leave New Orleans?

This historical fiction novel was just delightful!  The story is built around the book’s characters and the culture of New Orleans.  I loved the way that the French Quarter life and its historical figures were woven into the plot.  Ruta Septetys has a real gift with her ability to paint vivid pictures with descriptive words.  What a great idea it is to have a bookstore as a main setting and safe haven in this story!

Dora, Evangeline, and Sweety—Willie’s “girls” are strong female characters, despite the fact that they are “working girls”.  In fact, all the female characters in the book are strong, with the exception of Louise, Josie’s mother.  Who in the world would even think of naming her daughter for a madam, even if she is the “classiest madam in Storyville”?  Josie calls Willie her “wicked stepmother with a heart of gold”, and she truly is much more of a mother figure to Josie than Louise ever has been.

Anyone who is a fan of historical fiction or loves a good mystery will enjoy this novel.  I highly recommend it to high school and public libraries.

Review of The Private Thoughts of Amelia E. Rye

The Private Thoughts of Amelia E. Rye by Bonnie Shimko.  Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 2010.

Grandpa Thomas told his granddaughter, Amelia Earhart Rye, that all she would ever need is one true friend, but Amelia doesn’t have even one person she could call a friend. Then Fancy Nelson moves to town, and Amelia finds the best friend she has never had. There is only one problem…Fancy is black! Actually, this isn’t a problem for Amelia and Fancy, just for everyone else. Fancy and her mother live in a big, beautiful mansion owned by Judge Watson, and Fancy has the prettiest clothes Amelia has ever seen! It turns out that Fancy's beautiful mother is really Judge Watson's daughter!  While Amelia thinks that her mother doesn't want or love her, after her death, Amelia finds out what love really is.

This has to be the most delightful book I have read in a long time! Amelia, Fancy, and Grandpa Thomas are extremely well-developed and charming characters. Despite its early 1960s racial setting, the two girls become fast friends. I liked the added twist of having Amelia discover that Margo La Rue, with whom her father ran off, is actually a wonderful, caring woman, and the two develop a loving relationship. Having Grandpa Thomas, Amelia, and Jack, her brother, stand up to Sylvia, their cunning sister, and her greedy husband, Sam, was both funny and gratifying! Although the book is written for a younger audience, I think that it could be thoroughly enjoyed by any age group! It reminds me Fannie Flagg’s books, but written for a younger audience!  There is humor, drama, and small town nostalgia all rolled into this fabulous novel!

This book was a real page-turner. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it for upper elementary, middle school, high school, and public libraries!!!!