Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge,from F+W Media, Inc via Edelweiss, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own.
Staying with our color theme....
A coming of age story set against the lush backdrop of Katrina-ravished New Orleans.
Synopsis:
April is alone in the world. When she was only a baby, her teenage mother took off and now, unbelievably, her dad has died. Nobody's left to take April in except her mom's sister, a free spirit who's a chef in New Orleans--and someone who April's never met. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, April is suddenly supposed to navigate a city that feels just like she feels, fighting back from impossibly bad breaks. But it's Miles, a bayou boy, who really brings April into the heart of the Big Easy. He takes her to the cemetery where nineteenth-century voodoo queen Marie Laveau is buried, and there, April gets a shocking clue about her own past. Once she has a piece of the puzzle, she knows she will never give up. What she doesn't know is that finding out the truth about her past and the key to her future could cost her everything--maybe even her life.
Review:
A few weeks ago I attended the Jefferson Parish Writers Association lecture, that featured mystery writers from New Orleans, and one of the Pet Peeves that was discussed, was how New Orleans gets represented in books-its either totally right, or totally wrong. SIGH, the entire crowd was in agreement. So I had high hopes that this book would be on the right. Nope. For example, one does NOT get to the Causeway bridge to cross the to Northshore, via New Orleans east from the French Quarter. You would go through Metairie for that bridge, or preferably, take the shorter route via the Slidell bridge. SIGH. It's a little thing, but once you notice that, then others will pop up. But on the flip side, there are many things Sheila got right- the community of NOLA, the neighborhoods, the cemetaries....
The story itself is a bit of a page turner for teens and adults, as April searches out the family history and mysteries, to determine why her mother left her and her dad, and why her family had nothing to do with her. The story leads a predictable tone, but then gives an ending that feels bereft, unless a book 2 is on the way...Adults used to authors ending books this way may get aggravated, but roll on. Teens may be very unamused and forgo checking to see if there is a coming sequel. There is much to offer in this book, but maybe a bit more editing and fact checking could have taken it to a better place in the hearts of teens.
The story itself is a bit of a page turner for teens and adults, as April searches out the family history and mysteries, to determine why her mother left her and her dad, and why her family had nothing to do with her. The story leads a predictable tone, but then gives an ending that feels bereft, unless a book 2 is on the way...Adults used to authors ending books this way may get aggravated, but roll on. Teens may be very unamused and forgo checking to see if there is a coming sequel. There is much to offer in this book, but maybe a bit more editing and fact checking could have taken it to a better place in the hearts of teens.
About the Author:
An active member of the youth writing and film-study community, Sheila Sobel was recently nominated for the Allegra Johnson Prize in Fiction Writing. She lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, her dogs, and her cats. This is her first novel.
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