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Title details for 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter - Available

32 Candles

A Novel

by Ernessa T. Carter
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"With all the charm of a clever romantic comedy and peopled by appealing, memorable characters, Carter's first novel is a winner on all fronts." —Booklist, starred review
Davie—an ugly duckling growing up in small-town Mississippi—is positive her life couldn't be any worse. Just when she's resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life—Sixteen Candles. But in her case, life doesn't imitate art. Tormented endlessly in school and hopelessly in unrequited love with a handsome football player, James Farrell, Davie finally finds the courage to leave the only life she knows.
Years later Davie has reinvented herself in LA and is living a glamorous life far from where she started—until she bumps into her former crush James Farrell. To Davie's astonishment, James doesn't recognize her, and she can't bring herself to end the fantasy. She lets him fall as deeply in love with her as she once was with him. But just as they're about to ride off into the sunset, the past comes back with a vengeance, threatening to break her heart again.
"Ernessa T. Carter is a fresh new voice. In Davie Jones, she has created a wicked yet empathetic character." —Terry McMillan, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Waiting to Exhale 
"32 cheers for Ernessa T. Carter! She's created one of the freshest, funniest characters I've ever read. . . . 32 Candles is a charmer." —Carleen Brice, author of Orange Mint and Honey
"This summer's juiciest beach read. . . . [A] disarmingly moving tale." —Essence
"Potent and well rendered." —KirkusReviews
"[Davie's] need for sweet revenge adds a welcome dark edge." —i

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 21, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780062000057

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780062000057
      • File size: 1001 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 10, 2010
      This debut novel of longing for family, love, and acceptance finds some interesting territory before settling too early into inevitability. Davidia Jones, a nerdy child of poverty, is abused by her alcoholic mother and despicable father and is the subject of merciless taunting at her high school. But it's the "Molly Ringwald Ending" that guides this fragile 15-year-old when she bolts town with a lesbian trucker named Mama Jane and lands a gig as a '40s-style chanteuse in L.A. With a little Hollywood stardust, she redefines herself and begins living the life she's dreamed of—until James, the rich golden boy she had a crush on back home, walks into her nightclub. Not knowing their connected past, James promptly goes gaga for the overhauled Davie, whose need for sweet revenge adds a welcome dark edge to an otherwise predictable trajectory toward self-empowerment. New Agey embellishments (an "atonement list") seem like a misstep for a spirited heroine stuck in a middling narrative.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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