Review: 113. The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch...

This is yet another title whose cover caught my eye, and it was one of a horde of books that made it to my house from the library in the past few weeks...

Title: The Magnolia League
Author: Katie Crouch
ISBN-13: 9780316078498
Hardcover: 348 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers, 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Waukesha Public Library

drey's thoughts:  
Alexandra Lee is sixteen years old and orphaned when her mother's van goes off a cliff. Two months later, she is moved to Savannah, Georgia, to live with her grandmother. Going from hippy to southern belle is a culture shock to say the least, and she doesn't intend to acquire any of the seemingly-effortless gentility that her grandmother expects of her.

Then she finds out that not everything that glitters is gold, and all the gentility in the world doesn't hide the fact that her grandmother's social club has its fingers in more than a few questionable things--including a partnership with hoodoo practitioners. And now she's expected to not only be one of them, but eventually lead them...

Is she strong enough to withstand the pressure to conform? Or will this not-quite-rail-thin sassy hippy girl become lost in the glory--real and imagined--of being one of the Magnolia League?

I like Alex, except when she's all wishy-washy about a boy. A girl who stands up for her vintage t-shirts and ripped jeans in the face of Dolce & Gabbana and Marc Jacobs does not do wishy-washy; she kicks butt with her army boots or smart-mouth witticisms. I like her new friend Dexter and I even like Hayes and Madison--the debutantes assigned to get Alex into the local scene. I'm not sure I like the Buzzards much (what a name, huh?), and I'm definitely sure I don't like her grandmother all.

The pace starts off leisurely and hardly picks up until you get to the end, where Alex finds out just how devious her grandmother is, and has to decide whether she'll give it all up--for the boy she's pretty sure she loves, or for the mother she's lost. Up till the end, this was just another story about another teenager who finds out that the world around her holds many secrets. But with that ending, I'm waiting to see what Katie Crouch comes up with next for Alex. And what repercussions will flow from her decision.

drey's rating: Pick it up!

Have you read The Magnolia League? What did you think?

63. Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch...

Girls in Trucks is the story of Sarah Walters, born into one of the oldest debutante societies in Charleston. Growing up includes weekly Cotillion dancing lessons, minding manners, and appropriate behavior, all overseen by the Camellias. When Sarah moves north for college, and later, a career, she finds that the lessons learned growing up, don't translate so well to the modern world.

Girls in Trucks chronicles Sarah's journey from southern belle to broken-hearted, lost soul. Parts of this book was difficult for me to read, if only because I'm sitting here going "C'mon, Sarah! Don't pick that door! Pick that one!" and "noooooooooooooooooo"... *sigh* There is redemption toward the end though. Sarah discovers the meaning of love, and discovers that she's had it all along.

This is not a feel-good, fluffy, warm-fuzzy, chick-lit read. But it's good anyway. Want your own copy? Check out my giveaway, or click on the cover to purchase from Amazon. =)

Title: Girls in Trucks
Author: Katie Crouch
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-0-316-00212-7
Paperback: 241 pages
Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2008

Giveaway - Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch...

Boy, you readers sure are a lucky lucky bunch! Here's 5 copies of Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch, courtesy of Hachette Book Group. Gotta love those guys!

Sarah Walters, the narrator of GIRLS IN TRUCKS, is a reluctant Camellia Society debutante. She has always felt ill-fitted to the rococo ways of Southern womanhood and family, and is anxious to shake the bonds of her youth. Still, she follows the traditional path laid out for her. This is Charleston, and in this beautiful, dark, segregated town, established rules and manners mean everything.

But as Sarah grows older, she finds that her Camellia lessons fail her, particularly as she goes to college, moves North, and navigates love and life in New York. There, Sarah and her group of displaced deb sisters try to define themselves within the realities of modern life. Heartbreak, addiction, disappointing jobs and death fail to live up to the hazy, happy future promised to them by their Camellia mothers and sisters.

When some unexpected bumps in the road--an unplanned birth, a family death--lead Sarah back home, she's forced to take another long look at the fading empire of her youth. It takes a strange turn of events to finally ground Sarah enough to make some serious choices. And only then does she realize that as much as she tried to deny it, where she comes from will always affect where she ends up. The motto of her girlhood cotillion society, "Once a Camellia, always a Camellia," may turn out to have more wisdom and pull to it than she ever could have guessed.

So, want to enter? Here are the details:

1. Open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only, no P.O. Boxes (HBG rules)...
2. Enter with a comment: What do you prefer? Itty-bitty / medium / large car vs. small / large SUV vs. light / heavy-duty pickup truck vs. pedal-power vs. other ('splain, please...)
3. +1 for following; +2 for sharing (so twitter, stumble, blog about, etc. this!). Remember to come back & let me know what/where... =)
4. Come back after April 19th to find out if you've won. Winners will have 3 days to get me their mailing info, after which I'll draw a replacement. If I have an email address, I can follow up if I don't hear from you, but if not...

That's it! Good luck!! & as always, check out the lovely ladies at West of Mars -- Win a Book! for more giveaways...