51. Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

Category: 50 Books

51. Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

This is by far one of the best new books I’ve read all year. It’s a dysfunctional To Kill a Mockingbird. I’m not sure what year it takes place but I’m thinking it’s the late ’60s early ’70s. It’s in the south and told from the point of view of the 11 year old daughter, Ellie. I say it’s like a crazy To Kill a Mockingbird because what if Scout’s mom was alive and very bi-polar? And what would happen if Atticus Fitch was not so Atticus-y? And let’s throw on top of that Scout starting her period. And while there’s no Dill or Boo Radley there is a magic black lady.

Normally I’d say a magic black lady would be too much. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s a ridiculous premise. But not so in this book. It works. It totally works and what’s more, thank God for that magic black lady.

I don’t want to tell you too much about the plot because if I do I’m afraid you won’t read it. I almost didn’t read it after reading the jacket cover because I was afraid it would be too sad and a total downer. It is sad, but since it’s told from the 11 year old’s perspective it has this innocence to it. And while it is a bit like reading a trainwreck, you can’t help but want to turn the page to see what’s going to happen next.

It’s a wonderful book, and I did not find myself muttering, “redundant, redundant, redundant,” like I do with most new books. Also? The book gets extra bonus points for being the perfect length. Thank God there’s still people out there who can tell a story within a 300 page limit.

This book gets 0 Cansecos because it was so good.

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