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Hush Puppy
Hush Puppy is the story of inteligent Corrine, abandoned by her mother, and artsy Jamie, forced to play football by a redneck father, who both dream of leaving their podunk town and never looking back. Their shared love of literature and a dream of a better life bring them together and a romance blossoms between them in a secret place of their own in the steamy North Carolina woods. When Jamie is involved in the accidental death of a white girl, he’s terrified of his abusive father. Corrine takes the blame to protect Jaime, with dire consequences for herself and her dreams of the future. Her life in danger, Corrine’s left wondering if Jamie ever cared about her at all.
223 pages, ebook
First published August 17, 2013
1 person is currently reading
311 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 25, 2015
Engrossing!!! very upbeat. The illustrations of a young girl growing with loads of trouble is commendable. Its a page turner for sure. Most of the times I felt that I am a part of the story. It was very lively. I am giving it 4 stars because, I personally didn't like the ending, it was a bit quick and hurried. But nonetheless, very good experience. Lisa, wow, the story was wonderful, the visuals were exceptionally well thought up.
I will surely recommend it to everybody.
I will surely recommend it to everybody.
April 10, 2014
Black girl on the cover? Check.
I am surprised as hell that I loved this considering the setting and the behaviors of some of the characters, but Corinne was such a great heroine. She kept her eyes on the prize, which was college. She was a smart black girl who liked being smart. I like reading about nerdy black girls and YA doesn't write enough of them. And yet, Hush Puppy reminded me of why I'm so thankful that I don't live in some backward southern town where it seems the civil rights movement never happened and that Friday Night Lights is a way of life. Granted, Corinne's family was functionally dysfunctional, with the strict and hidebound grandmother who views Corinne' growing friendship with Jamie with suspicion, and her often missing mother.
I really struggled with Jamie though. I liked him but there were times he truly tried my patience. I understood that his dad was an alcoholic abusive racist trying to re-live his glory days through his son, and I got that he was a misunderstood, yet brilliant misfit with trust issues, and yet to let Corinne take the blame for something she did not do. However, he did redeem himself in the end. I wasn't crazy about his trying to use the "you would if you loved me" line when Corrinne said no to sex. That seemed weird and almost out of character.
Having said all that, I really loved this book. It was well-written with characters I cared about. Thanks to the Twinjas for the recommendation.
I am surprised as hell that I loved this considering the setting and the behaviors of some of the characters, but Corinne was such a great heroine. She kept her eyes on the prize, which was college. She was a smart black girl who liked being smart. I like reading about nerdy black girls and YA doesn't write enough of them. And yet, Hush Puppy reminded me of why I'm so thankful that I don't live in some backward southern town where it seems the civil rights movement never happened and that Friday Night Lights is a way of life. Granted, Corinne's family was functionally dysfunctional, with the strict and hidebound grandmother who views Corinne' growing friendship with Jamie with suspicion, and her often missing mother.
I really struggled with Jamie though. I liked him but there were times he truly tried my patience. I understood that his dad was an alcoholic abusive racist trying to re-live his glory days through his son, and I got that he was a misunderstood, yet brilliant misfit with trust issues, and yet to let Corinne take the blame for something she did not do. However, he did redeem himself in the end. I wasn't crazy about his trying to use the "you would if you loved me" line when Corrinne said no to sex. That seemed weird and almost out of character.
Having said all that, I really loved this book. It was well-written with characters I cared about. Thanks to the Twinjas for the recommendation.
August 21, 2013
I absolutely adored Hush Puppy by Lisa Cresswell. Corrine’s hopes and fears were so palpable I felt them right along with her. Every time she expected Jamie to break her heart, I wanted to believe she was wrong, but with the Romeo and Juliet references, I never knew for sure what was coming next. Sorry, no spoilers here! Hush Puppy is a sweet, sweet story of conquering prejudices, forgiveness and family, and a reminder that positive perspective, determination, and the support of one special person are enough to overcome whatever trauma life may deal.
September 10, 2013
A beautiful story. Cresswell knows how to touch the reader's heart and immerse you completely into her world. Wonderful setting and realistic characters. Definitely a page-turner!
September 18, 2013
The first thing I noticed about the book was, of course, the cover. Simple and stunning at the same time. It always amazes me how the book cover people can draw a reader in by just a black and white portrait.
Hush Puppy starts out simple and sweet: a 17-year-old black girl in North Carolina meets a white boy her age and starts a friendship. Corrine’s life is difficult, but it’s not stereotypically tragic. It’s something that many readers can relate to, as is Jamie’s. Corrine handles it well, though. She tackles racism, poverty, absent parents, and peer pressure with admirable grace, usually taking the high road. She’s not a Mary Sue character, though: she has moments when that decision is so hard to make. In the end, she serves as a role model for real girls.
Jamie isn’t quite as strong as Corrine, taking his trials but blaming others for them. At this point, he doesn’t have high hopes for the future. Jamie is right in the middle of the toughest part of his life, and he’s well aware of it. There were a couple of moments in the book where I felt Jamie wasn’t worth the trouble he caused, but apparently the heroine of the book had more faith in him than I did.
The author built the suspense well, writing scenes that kept me expecting something tragic to happen. When nothing happened, I wasn’t disappointed, but I didn’t lose the suspense. I felt the foreshadowing that something WAS going to happen. And when it did, I really didn’t see it coming. Wow. The moment it happened, I couldn’t stop reading. At 1am, I finished the book.
There were a few unanswered questions, though. First of all, when the characters were going through their climactic struggle, Corrine felt that Jamie wasn’t telling her everything. I don’t remember seeing that resolved, where she found out what he hadn’t told her. Also, did Mr. Taft ever do anything to Jamie when the truth came out? Though I was left wondering these things, the absence of them didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story.
This is something I would let my young adult daughter read. At one point, Corrine almost gets herself into a compromising situation, but she makes the right decision in the end. The author keeps the heroine out of the sex-traps that even other young adult authors seem to be miring their characters in. Since my daughter reads at a much higher level than her age, it’s often difficult to find books appropriate for her. Hush Puppy is. I’d recommend to all my parent-friends.
Hush Puppy starts out simple and sweet: a 17-year-old black girl in North Carolina meets a white boy her age and starts a friendship. Corrine’s life is difficult, but it’s not stereotypically tragic. It’s something that many readers can relate to, as is Jamie’s. Corrine handles it well, though. She tackles racism, poverty, absent parents, and peer pressure with admirable grace, usually taking the high road. She’s not a Mary Sue character, though: she has moments when that decision is so hard to make. In the end, she serves as a role model for real girls.
Jamie isn’t quite as strong as Corrine, taking his trials but blaming others for them. At this point, he doesn’t have high hopes for the future. Jamie is right in the middle of the toughest part of his life, and he’s well aware of it. There were a couple of moments in the book where I felt Jamie wasn’t worth the trouble he caused, but apparently the heroine of the book had more faith in him than I did.
The author built the suspense well, writing scenes that kept me expecting something tragic to happen. When nothing happened, I wasn’t disappointed, but I didn’t lose the suspense. I felt the foreshadowing that something WAS going to happen. And when it did, I really didn’t see it coming. Wow. The moment it happened, I couldn’t stop reading. At 1am, I finished the book.
There were a few unanswered questions, though. First of all, when the characters were going through their climactic struggle, Corrine felt that Jamie wasn’t telling her everything. I don’t remember seeing that resolved, where she found out what he hadn’t told her. Also, did Mr. Taft ever do anything to Jamie when the truth came out? Though I was left wondering these things, the absence of them didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story.
This is something I would let my young adult daughter read. At one point, Corrine almost gets herself into a compromising situation, but she makes the right decision in the end. The author keeps the heroine out of the sex-traps that even other young adult authors seem to be miring their characters in. Since my daughter reads at a much higher level than her age, it’s often difficult to find books appropriate for her. Hush Puppy is. I’d recommend to all my parent-friends.
July 13, 2016
I picked up this book without being a reader of romance or YA fiction, but I have always being fascinated by interracial relationships, by the way people from (supposed) social background love each other even when almost everyone else fights against them.
Sometimes, these stories can be full of prejudices and oversimplifications, but this is not the case. With wonderful characters like Corinne and Jamie there is no room for stereotypes, they are not the average black-and-troubled girl and the white-and-misteryous boy, they have complex background and tense family relationships, but this are dealt in a natural way, without exaggeration of pathos or stereotyped teenage angst.
Race is obviously dealt with in the book, but even when there are openly racist characters, this does not make the story too tragic or unrealistic like it happens sometimes in this kind of books.
The love between Corinne and Jamie is the focus of all the story, and at times you could forget that they are of different races because you are so caught up in following their growing relationship and their strggles with teenage life to pay attention to the color of their skin. There is a very well-done construction of the main characters: Corinne is a smart, sweet girl who dreams of travelling as far she can from her boring hometown and who has a love/hate relationship with their family, while Jamie is a boy who is somewhere in between the nerd and the popular guy, with a fragile personality and a love of reading, who is willing to be mistaken as a dumb boy because this makes it easy to be like his father wants him to be. I liked more the part about the forming of their friendship than the climax at the end, but this is a good book about interracial relationship and teenage struggles, very pleasing to read and I easily read it in one day.
I recommend it to anyone who wants a good romance.
Sometimes, these stories can be full of prejudices and oversimplifications, but this is not the case. With wonderful characters like Corinne and Jamie there is no room for stereotypes, they are not the average black-and-troubled girl and the white-and-misteryous boy, they have complex background and tense family relationships, but this are dealt in a natural way, without exaggeration of pathos or stereotyped teenage angst.
Race is obviously dealt with in the book, but even when there are openly racist characters, this does not make the story too tragic or unrealistic like it happens sometimes in this kind of books.
The love between Corinne and Jamie is the focus of all the story, and at times you could forget that they are of different races because you are so caught up in following their growing relationship and their strggles with teenage life to pay attention to the color of their skin. There is a very well-done construction of the main characters: Corinne is a smart, sweet girl who dreams of travelling as far she can from her boring hometown and who has a love/hate relationship with their family, while Jamie is a boy who is somewhere in between the nerd and the popular guy, with a fragile personality and a love of reading, who is willing to be mistaken as a dumb boy because this makes it easy to be like his father wants him to be. I liked more the part about the forming of their friendship than the climax at the end, but this is a good book about interracial relationship and teenage struggles, very pleasing to read and I easily read it in one day.
I recommend it to anyone who wants a good romance.
December 17, 2015
Disclaimer: friends with the author
Confession: This was shared with me digitally as a reader's copy from the author. It was one of the first books I put on my Kindle. Which I clearly didn't know how to use yet. So I read about 1/4 of the book and then accidentally deleted it, couldn't find it, blah blah. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I discovered that the ARCs I get from Edelweiss etc. are listed under "docs" not "books" and lo and behold - there's Hush Puppy, too! This public service announcement has been provided to prevent you from your own delayed reading trauma.
Now let's discuss the actual book, shall we? It's lovely. I felt the writing was flowing and simple but suddenly there's a big EVENT (all I'll say by way of preventing spoilers) and suddenly you realize Cresswell has been incredibly suave with the plotting.
The characters are well-defined with a lot of growth and while as an adult I grew frustrated with the "teen angst" part of things, I know these characters will ring true with young adults.
My only real complaint is that I wish the climax had happened earlier on in the story so as not to "rush" the ending a bit.
I think teens will enjoy this title but would tailor my recommendations more to girls than boys because of the female narrator. I think this is also an excellent parent/teen book club read since it deals with a lot of traditional issues but also covers a rather large issue that, hopefully, not too many teens will need to deal with and, therefore, will love exploring the ramifications of.
Confession: This was shared with me digitally as a reader's copy from the author. It was one of the first books I put on my Kindle. Which I clearly didn't know how to use yet. So I read about 1/4 of the book and then accidentally deleted it, couldn't find it, blah blah. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I discovered that the ARCs I get from Edelweiss etc. are listed under "docs" not "books" and lo and behold - there's Hush Puppy, too! This public service announcement has been provided to prevent you from your own delayed reading trauma.
Now let's discuss the actual book, shall we? It's lovely. I felt the writing was flowing and simple but suddenly there's a big EVENT (all I'll say by way of preventing spoilers) and suddenly you realize Cresswell has been incredibly suave with the plotting.
The characters are well-defined with a lot of growth and while as an adult I grew frustrated with the "teen angst" part of things, I know these characters will ring true with young adults.
My only real complaint is that I wish the climax had happened earlier on in the story so as not to "rush" the ending a bit.
I think teens will enjoy this title but would tailor my recommendations more to girls than boys because of the female narrator. I think this is also an excellent parent/teen book club read since it deals with a lot of traditional issues but also covers a rather large issue that, hopefully, not too many teens will need to deal with and, therefore, will love exploring the ramifications of.
February 8, 2014
Corrine, who dreams of college and traveling far away from her humble roots lives with her grandmother. Her mother abandoned her years ago for the fast life she wants to lead. A new neighbor, a young white boy, moves in across the way with his drunk and abusive father. She and Jamie form an easy bond that turns to love; one where they both can be themselves. Once they head back to school in the Fall their relationship is not as easy to maintain and their relationship experiences some roughness. Jaime gets caught up in a side of high school that Corrine's never allowed herself to enjoy due to racial tension amongst her classmates. Jaime seems oblivious and I felt the subject could have been explored more. I wanted to know how it made Corrine feel to be left as an outsider and I wanted more community tension once Jaime's role in the disaster came to light. I wanted something to happen to Mr. Taft most of all! I enjoyed Lisa Creswell's writing and thought she provided an interesting side of this inter-racial relationship.
September 25, 2013
I was really impressed with this novel. The characters are easy to love and you find yourself championing for them after just a few chapters. This story takes place in North Carolina but truly could have happened anywhere which makes it easy to connect with the story and the emotions. The imagery is also fantastic, so much so, that I found myself wondering what the characters would do next at the end of the day. Really a great read for any age and I enjoyed the book a lot.
December 13, 2013
Lisa Cresswell's descriptions are stunning. She really makes you feel as if you are right there within the story. And the characters' emotions leap out of the page into your senses.
Loved the story and the descriptions! I wish I could write with such a flow! The only thing that gave me pause was the story seemed to wrap up a bit quickly and smoothly at the end. Everything else about it was superb!
Loved the story and the descriptions! I wish I could write with such a flow! The only thing that gave me pause was the story seemed to wrap up a bit quickly and smoothly at the end. Everything else about it was superb!
June 26, 2016
So glad I took the chance
I was Leary and I can't remember why. This book was amazing.it was everything I wanted it to be. Although sometimes I felt like it was set in the 60's and no time was really specified,I understood the underlying racial tension even in a modern time.the romance in the book was the perfect tone for a high school relationship.the book was very subtle and coaxed you into a different place and time. 5 stars isn't enough.
I was Leary and I can't remember why. This book was amazing.it was everything I wanted it to be. Although sometimes I felt like it was set in the 60's and no time was really specified,I understood the underlying racial tension even in a modern time.the romance in the book was the perfect tone for a high school relationship.the book was very subtle and coaxed you into a different place and time. 5 stars isn't enough.
June 17, 2016
The best part about "Hush Puppy" is the moment when Jamie and Corrine discovered the beauty of being themselves. Trying to please others is draining. I loved the pacing of the story and chemistry between Corrine and Jamie. It is fresh and pure.
August 1, 2015
A complete pageturner. The story touched my heart. I am still in the aura of the book. Very beautifully written. Vey good read.
February 20, 2018
I just can't finish this one, it is definitely a teen fiction and not made for adults. I can see how this could potentially be a very powerful story but the characters are pretty two-dimensional and unrelateable. The loner black girl and the loner white boy finding love despite all the odds...where have I heard this before....
October 1, 2015
Why?
I mean seriously this is the fourth book this week that I just couldn't get.. I am still wondering at what point did this story lose me?
Hmmm I would say it was actually right before the whole Trisha downfall. I have zero feelings about this book, I am trying to find something I liked... HA it's probably because the book is about teens that could be my problem with it! "Hush puppy" was a freaking doormat I mean seriously, even when she tried to have a back bone it turned out looking like a joke.
I have no words for Jamie he pissed me off as well, I tried to feel sorry for Corrine, I just couldn't...
So folks in all honesty.. YOU may like the book if you are into that teen love.. Me.. NOT so much and it's probably my fault for assuming that they grow older in the book, nope this book is placed in a high school setting... keep that in mind.
This book just wasn't for me.
I mean seriously this is the fourth book this week that I just couldn't get.. I am still wondering at what point did this story lose me?
Hmmm I would say it was actually right before the whole Trisha downfall. I have zero feelings about this book, I am trying to find something I liked... HA it's probably because the book is about teens that could be my problem with it! "Hush puppy" was a freaking doormat I mean seriously, even when she tried to have a back bone it turned out looking like a joke.
I have no words for Jamie he pissed me off as well, I tried to feel sorry for Corrine, I just couldn't...
So folks in all honesty.. YOU may like the book if you are into that teen love.. Me.. NOT so much and it's probably my fault for assuming that they grow older in the book, nope this book is placed in a high school setting... keep that in mind.
This book just wasn't for me.
December 14, 2014
MY REVIEW
First, I need to say the storyline and the actual story was was good and well written and for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed reading the struggles of a young girl growing up and how racism is still alive and words can be used in the wrong way even though they are used by definition.
Second, I have not thought I would be need to use race or racism in my reviews however this book changed that. I need to point out in the book that the way it is used Redneck is as much slur as the "N" word or any others. Redneck when used properly means fun-loving, down home, good time, easy going people. Who if you needed would give the shirt off their back to help. It is not what was portrayed in the book.
Due to this I am giving the book a 3.75 but will be raising it to a 4 to be a full star.
Personally I am proud to say I AM A REDNECK!
given a book for a review
First, I need to say the storyline and the actual story was was good and well written and for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed reading the struggles of a young girl growing up and how racism is still alive and words can be used in the wrong way even though they are used by definition.
Second, I have not thought I would be need to use race or racism in my reviews however this book changed that. I need to point out in the book that the way it is used Redneck is as much slur as the "N" word or any others. Redneck when used properly means fun-loving, down home, good time, easy going people. Who if you needed would give the shirt off their back to help. It is not what was portrayed in the book.
Due to this I am giving the book a 3.75 but will be raising it to a 4 to be a full star.
Personally I am proud to say I AM A REDNECK!
given a book for a review
Read
May 5, 2014Great book with a great unexpected ending.
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