This book follows the life of Jessilyn Lassiter, teenager. She just turned 13, and it wasn't starting out as she had planned. She's got a very strong will and she's not afraid to say what's on her mind. But she messes with the wrong boy at her party, and since she humiliates him, she knows retribution will be swift and dirty. Jessilyn's best friend Gemma, is black, and her family works for the Lassiters on their farm. Gemma warns Jessilyn of what would be to come, but she moves ahead anyway.
The birthday party-goers are all sent to the watering hole (a lake or pond, I assume) and then the boys go after Jessilyn. She struggles to get away when the boy she humiliated pushes her underwater and holds her there. When she does finally break free she tries desperately to swim away. Well, she gets grabbed by the ankle as she tries to climb slick rocks and the boy yanks her, causing her to hit her head before he finally pulls her under the water. Enter Luke. He is older, and so handsome Jessilyn thinks she's hallucinating. He pulls her from the water and takes her back to her house. Luke is an instant friend to the Lassiters and instant crush to Jessilyn.
Tragedy strikes when a thunderstorm rolls in to town. Lightning and thunder precede the rain, and with the worst luck, Gemma's house is hit by lightning, sparking a fire. Jessilyn and her father jump in their truck and speed to their house, but it was too late. Gemma sat huddled just outside the house, now engulfed in flames, and her parents where nowhere in sight.
Later Jessilyn's father decides that they were going to keep Gemma as part of the family as a promise he gave to Gemma's father. Well, all hell breaks loose when the Ku Klux Klan hear word of this. Living in the South in 1932 was hard enough.
The Lassiter family was deeply religious and it was prevalent in the book, much discussion, contradiction, etc. But it wasn't in-your-face like many Christian authors can be. So even if you aren't religious, this book won't feel like major repellent.
The only gripe I had with this book was that it was written entirely in past-tense. The first line of the book, "The summer I turned thirteen, I thought I killed a man." I kept thinking at some point we'd get to the present, but no, the whole thing was past-tense, which was fine. I guess I sort of expected it to end up that way based on that first line. But even so it was still a good book nonetheless. I recommend it very highly.
7 comments:
Ohhh Past tense is NOT my cup of tea...at all. I need to feel like I'm living the book. Too bad because it sounds like a good book =) I think I've lost my YA reading mojo :( I can't remember the last book staring a teenager I've read. wow this is sad lol.
Anyway, the grade you gave him is enough so that i'll still keep an eye out for this book, should my mojo come back =)
No worries, this book was fine in past tense. Like I said I thought it would get back to the present, but it never did. Otherwise it was fine, I had no problems with it. She did a much better job telling the story than Gaiman did in past tense. Another perk is that it was easier to follow along because it was still first person. I think this may just be one of those "different" books that could rekindle that love for YA books. It's not paranormal in any way, but still very intriguing to dive into summer of 1932 in the south of the USA. Rough times.
Ok I believe you and i'm not crossing it from my list ;)
oh wait, I just remembered that I bought a YA only last week lol, Haven't read it yet though. Wow I have no memory.
(btw I still love your pic, it's so funny that your dog is eating your nose)
It was more of a knaw, no physical damage. It was actually a cross between a tickle and a scratch, but it was all in good fun. She's a doll. Inspiration for my book's werewolf named Shadow (no relation to Gaiman's character though!!)
Hehe that must be a very nice werewolf...somehow I can't see her shredding humans or anything ;) So cute.
See new post for a response to that :)
*g* New post!
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