Love, Jacaranda
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling
author of Beastly, Alex Flinn, comes a new contemporary novel
about one girl’s journey to find her voice and let love in.
“A delicious bonbon of a love story.”—New
York Times
bestselling and award-winning author Nancy Werlin
Jacaranda Abbott has always tried to keep her mouth shut. As
a foster kid, she’s learned the hard way that the less she talks about her
mother and why she’s in jail, the better.
But when a video of Jacaranda singing
goes viral, a mysterious benefactor offers her a life-changing opportunity—a
scholarship to a prestigious boarding school for performing arts. Eager to
start over somewhere new, Jacaranda leaps at the chance, and she pours her
heart out in emails to the benefactor she’s never met.
Suddenly she’s swept up into a world of privilege where the
competition is fierce and the talent is next level. As Jacaranda—Jackie to her
new friends—tries to find her place, a charming boy from this world of wealth
catches her eye. She begins to fall for him, but can he accept her for who she
really is?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The elements comprising this dramatic, jauntily plotted epistolary novel will be familiar to consumers of romantic literature, though they've been updated with a modern sensibility. After a video of her singing at the Southern Publix where she works goes viral, 16-year-old Jacaranda Abbott is plucked from foster care by a mysterious benefactor. What begins as a thank-you email to him turns into a diary-style narrative, though it's never quite believable that she would confess so much to a stranger. "John Smith" provides a full ride to Michigan's Midwestern Arts Academy, where Jacaranda blossoms into a star and falls in love with her suitemate's rich, generous cousin, Jarvis. Jacaranda worries that her secret her mother is in prison for hitting an abusive boyfriend with her car will alienate her from her peers. Jarvis harbors a secret of his own, one that many readers will guess before story's end, and the two must confront their differences. Flinn (Girls of July) integrates serious issues such as class dynamics, the myth of meritocracy, and domestic abuse without seeming heavy-handed. For better or worse, she doesn't investigate them deeply; this novel is best consumed as wish-fulfillment fantasy for any teenager who belts show tunes in the shower. Ages 13 up.
