Review: 32 Candles: A Novel

32 Candles: A Novel by Ernessa T. Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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My daughter Kirsten and I were talking about books the other day, and I bemoaned the very bad books I had started and then set aside. What a waste of time. 

I want to read things that engage me and make me think about different perspectives.

She suggested that sometimes it's good to read something just for fun, and I agreed, but told her I at least wanted well written books. She suggested "32 Candles," and in the middle of our conversation, I bought the book. (I have issues with books and book purchases.)

So a few things about this book. 

First, when I finished the book, I immediately started missing the protagonist, Davidia Jones, born and raised in Glass, Mississippi, a transplant to Los Angeles. Her observations are sharp and humorous even when she describes tragic events. 

Second, it is a fun read. Davidia Jones, writes in first person. She describes her abusive childhood and how after her mother beat her, she decided never to speak again, how children at school call her Monkey Night due to her dark skin, how she discovered Molly Ringwald movies, and how she longs for her own Molly Ringwald ending. (The girl no one loves gets the boy and a happy ending.)

Third it is extraordinarily well written. It's not easy to take difficult topics like child abuse, prostitution, and self-degradation and make readers smile. But Davidia Jones made me smile. And made me root for her happy ending even as it seemed pretty much impossible. I couldn't put the book down, not a good thing when I have papers to grade and syllabi to write.

Fourth, this isn't just a fun book. It absolutely engaged me and made me see the world from a new perspective. Part of that is because the only white people in this book include a few shopkeepers and a waitress, none of whom come off looking that good. Everyone else is black. Sometimes I felt like I was on the outside, and it was this outside perspective that helped me see the world in new ways. 

Yes, I know this is fiction but fiction told from an unfamiliar perspective, fiction that introduced me to the South, to poverty, to childhood abuse, to cultural experiences I would not normally see. 

Fiction can be fun and still make us think. 

The only problem with reading such a great book is that it makes it difficult to find a new great book.