Johnson, Angela - A Cool Moonlight
Mon, Feb. 25th, 2008 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterAnd I continue to read more Angela Johnson! I only wish her books were longer so I went through them less quickly, or that she had a lot more backlist.
Lila has a rare medical condition that makes her allergic to sunlight, and sometimes even strong street lights. Her family has largely accomodated themselves to her schedule, but even so, she and two other girls are conspiring to get her out into the sun on her ninth birthday. The only thing is, her two friends don't always show up.
This is written in first person, and Lila doesn't capitalize. Usually, this would bug me, but somehow Johnson makes it work. And I know I keep saying that, but I just adore Johnson's prose and the little turns of phrase she puts in. I think my favorite part of this book was Lila relating how she and her friend got locked in his garage, and by the time his dad found them, they had eaten 23 popsicles from the freezer. Lila got all the grape ones.
Like the other Johnson books I've read, this is a slim book that's almost over before it begins. I didn't like it quite as much as Bird, but I still like it a lot.
I'm now about a month into my attempt to get more happy YA chick lit by and/or about POC, particularly girls and women of color, and Angela Johnson has been one of my favorite finds so far (the other is Justina Chen Headley). I want to pimp these books because I am sad that people might miss them by dismissing them as Depressing Books About the POC Experience (With Gangs! Bonus questions for schools and book clubs included, along with a special gold star for raising your awareness). Johnson's books aren't really happy, YA, or chick lit -- they're calming and meditative, shelved in the children's section, and don't have the trendy, snappy, fun voices and emphasis on humor to get into my personal definition of chick lit, but they're wonderful little slices of life that always make me feel good about life in general.
Lila has a rare medical condition that makes her allergic to sunlight, and sometimes even strong street lights. Her family has largely accomodated themselves to her schedule, but even so, she and two other girls are conspiring to get her out into the sun on her ninth birthday. The only thing is, her two friends don't always show up.
This is written in first person, and Lila doesn't capitalize. Usually, this would bug me, but somehow Johnson makes it work. And I know I keep saying that, but I just adore Johnson's prose and the little turns of phrase she puts in. I think my favorite part of this book was Lila relating how she and her friend got locked in his garage, and by the time his dad found them, they had eaten 23 popsicles from the freezer. Lila got all the grape ones.
Like the other Johnson books I've read, this is a slim book that's almost over before it begins. I didn't like it quite as much as Bird, but I still like it a lot.
I'm now about a month into my attempt to get more happy YA chick lit by and/or about POC, particularly girls and women of color, and Angela Johnson has been one of my favorite finds so far (the other is Justina Chen Headley). I want to pimp these books because I am sad that people might miss them by dismissing them as Depressing Books About the POC Experience (With Gangs! Bonus questions for schools and book clubs included, along with a special gold star for raising your awareness). Johnson's books aren't really happy, YA, or chick lit -- they're calming and meditative, shelved in the children's section, and don't have the trendy, snappy, fun voices and emphasis on humor to get into my personal definition of chick lit, but they're wonderful little slices of life that always make me feel good about life in general.
(no subject)
Tue, Feb. 26th, 2008 02:38 pm (UTC)Clearly, I have been reading too many paranormal romances lately....