Sweetie

by Kathryn Magendie

Friendship. Courage. Hope.

For shy, stuttering Melissa, the wild mountain girl named Sweetie is a symbol of pride and strength. But to many in their Appalachian town Sweetie is an outcast, a sinister influence, or worse. This poignant and haunting story takes readers deep inside the bittersweet heart of childhood loyalties.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Coming Of Age, Ebooks, Southern

216 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Kathryn Magendie is an Amazon Best-selling Author of five novels and a novella—TENDER GRACES, her first novel, was an Amazon Kindle Number 1 best-seller, SWEETIE and THE LIGHTNING CHARMER were Amazon best-sellers.

As well as her novelist life, she’s a freelance editor, personal trainer, and former Publishing Editor of The Rose & Thorn.

Her short stories, essays, poetry, and photography have been published in print and online publications. Her novels are available in print and ebook.

She lives in the Smoky Mountains in a little log house in the Cove at Killian Knob in Maggie Valley, Western North Carolina.

I appreciate and adore all my readers! *muwah!*

Reviews

[Lydia Presley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars. FIVE STARS to this book. I'm out of breath from being totally blown away by this beautiful coming-of-age story. Parts of this book reminded me of an old favorite book, The Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright. Kathryn Magendie has captured some magic in her descriptions of the Smoky Mountains and has created a character in Sweetie that will live on in my memory.

Sweetie is the story of two very different girls, friends thrown together through cruel acts at school - one strong and the other tender. They spend a school year together, growing up, changing and learning from one another. I felt Melissa's struggle and her pain while dealing with the bullies at school, her escape to food and her need to be loved by someone - and I felt captured by the entrance of "Sweetie" - her stories, her treatment of "Miss Lissa" and the adventures she drags Melissa on.

I had a sneaking suspicion after reading the first chapter that I would like this book, but I did not expect it to flat out floor me. The development of the story, the characters, the way Magendie manipulates her readers emotions threw me for a loop and had me laughing and crying .. sometimes loudly. This is the perfect book for you folks who love a good coming-of-age story with a touch of magic in it. I cannot wait to get my greedy hands on a physical copy as soon as I can (as I received this via Netgalley).

[Vaughn Roycroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming-of-age novels are certainly nothing new, but Sweetie is that and so much more. The book starts right off with an adult narrator (Lissa) recalling her first meeting with Sweetie. I immediately fell in love with the wild mountain girl and unrepentant outsider in the character of Sweetie. In spite of the gender difference, I also came to identify with, and grew to love, thirteen-year-old Lissa; so many of us felt awkward and unattractive at this, or some, early stage of life.

Lissa joins Sweetie as an outsider just as summer vacation arrives. The novel really takes off as the pair explores their budding friendship, each seeing a new world through the other’s eyes. Life lessons abound for Lissa, and the girls’ relationship deepens to a bound-sisterhood. Magendie is spot-on in rendering the process of finding something outside ourselves, something bigger: connection to place, separation from parental protectiveness, and our own private spirituality.

Sweetie carried me along at a fervent pace. Magendie deftly wields a number of literary devices: Lissa’s stammering, Sweetie’s inability to feel physical pain, both girls’ complicated parental relationships, and more; all tightly woven to create a powerful payoff. Suffice to say I was more than entertained. I was: swept away, made to reminisce, cracked-up, teary-eyed, stimulated to a racing pulse, but mostly just profoundly moved.

Magendie’s masterful use of language and setting, the intimacy of the story, and the balanced and brisk pace all contribute to her wonderful achievement. It’s a tale that transcends age and gender.

[Debby Littlefield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The author really makes you feel like you are seeing every little flower, and all things beautiful in the smoky mountains. This story is a wonderful story of friendship and I really loved this read!! I have never ready anything quite like it and I loved the two girls in this story!

[Susie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not understand this book. It took me much longer to read than most books. I kept putting it down to read something else. It only got weirder when Melissa went through puberty. I was hoping for some explanation at the end, where the prologue is picked up again. Too cryptic. Wish I hadn't spend the time.

I can't believe I am the only person to give this book 1 star!

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every minute of this story. A beautiful coming-of-age tale set in Appalachia in the 1970's, tells the story of Melissa and Sweetie; Shy, overweight Melissa, and brash, outspoken Sweetie, who become fast friends. It is a story of a summertime friendship, spent roaming the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina's Haywood County. Two friends who become "bound sisters" for life, each needing something from the other. Kathryn Magendie lives and works in the very same area where this story takes place. Her love for the mountains shines through in her story, with beautiful details of the flowers, rocks and creeks where the girls play. This book is now one of my top favorite Coming-of-Age stories (which include Roseflower Creek by J.L. Miles, Prayers and Lies by Sherri Wood Emmons, Walking Through Shadows by Bev Marshall, Where the Woodbine Twines by Sherry Austin, The Star Lite Drive In by Marjorie Reynolds, Summer of the Redeemers by Carolyn Haines...Just to name a few!) "Sweetie" is a character that I will never forget~

[Jessica Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never laughed and cried so much over a book in my life. This book is remarkable! The characters are so perfectly flawed and well-rounded that I fell in love with them all in a matter of pages. Of course, Sweetie and Melissa, being the two main characters knocked my socks off, but I also adored Melissa's parents. It takes skill to make a reader 'not like' a character in the beginning of a book, and then make them sympathize with them the more and more one finds out about them. I experienced this with Melissa's mother. I felt such a roller coaster of emotions while reading this that when it ended I burst out into a huge fit of tears. Why? Why oh why did it have to end???

Chapter TEN, is extra special. I will remember that chapter forever. You'll just have to pick this up and read it to find out why :o)

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two mismatched girls in an Appalachian town bond. Melissa is chubby, shy and domesticated; Sweetie is a child of the forest, mysterious, ever-resourceful, uninhibited. The story is told from Melissa's point of view, so that the reader is drawn alongside Melissa into Sweetie's world. We too get mesmerized by Sweetie's dry blunt observations and a knowledge of the world that hints at darker experience. The dialogue is finely honed--Sweetie has pretty much got her own language. Magendie's naturalistic descriptions: tramping through the woods, cleaning fish, nursing wounds, perfect. Ultimately, Sweetie is a story of growing up, or at least it is for Melissa. Like Peter Pan, Sweetie will remain unchanged on her island, the forest of the imagination.

[Polly Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a free Kindle book, but it's really surprisingly good. It's the story of two young girls who do not fit into the mainstream of society. Good so far. The book surprised me. At first, I thought it would be a "coming of age" book for young girls, but it is a haunting story of bullying, friendship, family, and survival. Magendie's writing is poetic and symbolic. An excellent book for a book club.

[Book Geek Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this—until the very end. Great character driven novel about a city girl and a mountain girl becoming best friends. Wasn't sure about the ending, too ambiguous for me. I like to know FOR SURE what happened. But I recommend it anyway.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a "sweet" book. My love for the eastern mountains added to my pleasure in reading this story. The author's description of Sweetie's mountain surroundings and experiences were wonderful, reminding me of the freedom this area evokes every time I visit.

[Diann Meek klug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprised how just a little chance-read book could touch me so.

[Ruby Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book

This is my 4th reading of Sweetie. Reading is my hobby & I have read thousands of books but this one is absolutely my number one. Sweetie & Melissa pull me in to the book with them. I run free on the mountain with them. I am lost in their world as mine fades away. I see everything through their eyes, every emotion, every pain. This book is magical & the wind carries me to them & the mountain. Kathryn is my favorite writer. I have read all her books & treasure everyone. I keep looking for her next book but have not found any. I look for other books that will create a longing in me as Sweetie does but again am left empty. The book The Wire Grass is close but nothing has touched my soul like Sweetie has! I give this book as a gift to those I love & hope they will find some of it’s magic as I have found. Thank you Kathryn for your gift & beauty of writing. I am patiently waiting for your next story.

[Erin Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really wonderful read, I just loved it. Melissa is twelve years old and once again the new girl having been moved by her family yet again to a small southern town in North Carolina. She is overweight, wears glasses and stutters and is an instant target for the bullies and the popular 'circle girls' at school. But that all changes when she meets Sweetie. Sweetie is the mountain girl who is wild inside and out and possesses folklore knowledge that Melissa is fascinated by. She lives in a cabin in the woods with her ill mother and is tough as nails. The two become blood sisters/best friends and have adventures all over the mountain together over the summer as Melissa learns how to stand up for her self by Sweeties examples of bravery and self respect. It is a wonderful coming of age story and the only trouble I had with any of it was the ambiguity of the ending. I wanted more! Highly recommended.

[Ramona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book until the end, which just left me confused. Beautifully written with great characters and it was well on it's way to a higher rating from me. That all changed as the book came to a screeching & very confusing halt. :(

[Suzette Neuenhaus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who cares?

[Carrie Billig]

0

[Alanna Spinrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of a shy girl (a stutterer) and a wild mountain girl named Sweetie. Sweetie shows the shy girl sources of pride and strength in Appalachian home town.

[Alisha Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigh. I'm such a sucker for a friendship story. Especially if it's a women friendship story. Why? Because so many books of what's called "women fiction" most often than not feature broken friendships or a friendship where one of the women is a harpy and the other one is sooo perfect. So I tend to yearn for a good women friendship story. Was Sweetie a good one? No. It was an abso-friggin-lutely fantastic one!

First off, the writing in Sweetie was so beautiful. Her use of language was just tremendous. Her words were filled with wonderful imagery, her sentences were pure lyricism. I'm not one of those people who can enjoy a book purely for wonderful writing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy beautiful writing when it comes up, but I need to be interested in the plot first. Then, I notice the wonders that some authors can do with seemingly ordinary words.

The characters in Sweetie were so great. I loved Melissa and could completely relate to her (as a former shy girl or maybe not so former). I wanted nothing more than to see her break out of her shell and to tell all of her idiot classmates to stuff it. She literally broke my heart because all she wanted was to feel loved and appreciated. But Sweetie was the real hero of this story. She was just so captivating and so out there. I cheered for a true original. In fact, she sort of reminded me of the Potato Girl from Promise Not to Tell (another fantastic book about another true original). I just loved all the complexities each of the girl had and their dynamic with their own family. And their friendship was just so beautiful.

So, I highly recommend Sweetie. It was a sweet, enchanting, captivating novel. It did make me tear up a bit at how great Sweetie and Melissa's friendship was, so it is a bit of a tearjerker. However, it is a great coming of age story and an amazing friendship story. Definitely pick it up. (And yay! for one of my better Early Reviewer Reads)

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just loved this coming of age story of two young girls from different walks of life that develop a friendship that will get them through a life changing summer. Sweetie and Melissa grow to depend upon one another through both of their strengths and weaknesses. In the opening of the book Melissa is a grown woman and she returns to the mountain town and finds herself recalling the special friendship that these girls had.

When Melissa was a young, overweight girl her family moved from town to town quite often, never really giving Melissa a chance to settle in and make real friends. That is about to change when her parents move them to a small town in the mountains of North Carolina before the start of her sixth grade year. As Melissa is teased by the more popular kids for her stuttering and weight, Sweetie is there to accept her as she is.

While Melissa lives in a modern home on the side of town, Sweetie lives in a secluded cabin in the mountains. Even though these girls are complete opposites, they form an unlikely bond of friendship. Once school lets out for the summer they take advantage of every waking moment to learn everything about each other and the mountains where they live. Melissa's mother disapproves of the friendship that she has with Sweetie, while her father always seems withdrawn in his own world.

Sweetie and Melissa deal with a lot of serious issues and changes during this summer. From puberty, secrets, and deaths, their friendship is tested. As the summer was coming to and end it really wasn't clear to me if the friendship would really last that much longer. I think that although Melissa still longed for the carefree days of exploring and youthful friendship, she secretly wanted a wider variety of friends that may have even included boys.

I just loved this story that gave me a good reminder of the innocence that children still have at this young age. With themes of friendship, coming of age, and loss of loved ones I can't help but think this would make a great book club selection and I don't hesitate to recommend it.

[JudithAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twelve year old Melissa of North Carolina is a little podgy and wears glasses. She prefers to spend her days at home. She only had one friend at school until Sweetie joined the class. Sweetie is strange but intriguing to Melissa. She helps Melissa (whom she calls Miss Lissa) lose her stutter and seems to know all about herbal medicine. She thinks these are magical.

She lives in the woods with her mother and knows an old Indian man who lives nearby. He, like Sweetie, believes in the magic of the mountain spirit.

Melissa, on the other hand, has been brought up by her father to believe in science. Her father is a scientist at the university. Everything that Sweetie says, Melissa tries to explain in a scientific way, but Sweetie isn’t having any of it.

Sweetie takes her out into the woods on the mountain, and through their friendship, Melissa becomes more a confident person.

An interesting story about the friendship between two very different girls. Not only is one brought up to believe in magic and the other in science, there is also a huge difference in their financial situation. While Melissa’s mother is trying for Melissa to lose weight, Sweetie does not seem to get enough to eat at home and is often hungry.

This is not a “sweet” book. Themes in the book are the effects of community gossip, religious fanatism, mental illness and poverty. It’s definitely a Southern (US) book, in which the sense of location and language shines through.

I enjoyed reading the book, but like Magendie’s other book I read, Tender Graces, I find it hard to look beyond the title and cover of the book. Still, the book is well-worth reading if you’re looking for a quick read that dares to come out with some strong themes.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I’ve just found another favorite author to add to my list. Sweetie, by Kathryn Magendie, introduced me to Appalachian mountains, the cruelty of small children, the misplaced kindness of adults, and the wonders of friendship spanning the years, all told in an absorbing voice with beautiful language that made the book impossible to put down.

Melissa, shy, overweight and stuttering, suffers from her mother’s dismissal, her father’s distraction, and her school-friends’ savage comments. But she finds one friend in the mountains in Sweetie, and spends one glorious summer exploring the secrets of nature, nurtured by joy. There’s a delightful scene where she learns to overcome the ickiness of gutting fish, recognizing that death must be a part of life, and absorbing the reality of a world apart from her own.

But Melissa’s and Sweetie’s lives are both threatening to fall apart, aided and abetted by well-meaning townspeople. The childhood story is bracketed by an adult Melissa seeking her past, revealing a strangeness that leaves the reader wondering who Sweetie really is and what is her power. A tale that tells the power and persistence of friendship in a wonderful way, bringing the worlds of nature and humanity into glorious focus, Sweetie is a book to be savored and read again almost as soon as it’s put down; and Kathryn Magendie is an author to watch.



Disclosure: I met Kathryn Magendie on her blog and was delighted to learn and take advantage of a deal offered on one of her books. I’m happy to offer this book review in return.

[MissSusie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book it has so many of my favorites tied into one-Southern Fiction, magical realism, and coming of age. It is a story of friendship, family, loss and life.

The friendship between Sweetie and Melissa or as Sweetie calls her Miss Lissa is so beautiful 2 children from very different backgrounds become the best of friends and blood bound sisters. Sweetie is a mountain girl who believes the mountain ways and her and her mother are the talk of much gossip in town. Melissa’s family moves around a lot her mother is very OCD about her house and writes poems about each meal she makes, her father is a scientist and a writer and they are both very removed from their daughter. Sweetie’s mother is a sickly woman who stays in bed all the time while Sweetie takes care of her.


This book is beautifully written and the Mountain is as big a character as the people. I loved these girls and was able to picture this book in my head so well because the descriptions of everything are so great. I don’t want to give to much away because to read this and discover all there is to know about these girls is something everyone should enjoy.

I highly recommend this book to fans of southern fiction, magical realism and coming of age stories and really anyone! I plan on finding anything else this author has written I truly enjoyed her style of writing.

5 Stars

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting of this book resonates with me. In western North Carolina, on a mountain, two girls discover stories, nature, and themselves through folklore, mystique, and long summer days. Having explored various parts of 'wilderness' growing up, naming different rocks and parts of creeks, I could relate to the girls as they did the same, making maps to guide one another. The ending (I'm not saying what it is) left me wondering what actually happened, which sort of bugs me but I can think of a few possibilities. The best part about this book is the descriptions of the scenery and the poetic language that moves the story along. There are subtleties that I really enjoyed, like how each morning Melissa woke up, she did a few more jumping jacks than the day before. Nothing was said more about it than that, but it added to the progression of the character. In addition, the dialects were awesome, only continuing the emersion into the story. The first and last chapters were the most puzzling and harder to get into than the rest of the book. This book definitely surprised me.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, what can I say? I was excited to read "Sweetie" after reading all the great reviews on here, but I just didn't feel as drawn to the story as I thought I would. I never thought "Ooh! I can't wait to get home from work and read some more of my book!" That, and the ending sucked. Wish I could give

Set the the late 60s or early 70s in Western North Carolina, chubby, stuttering Melissa (Miss Lissa) and scarred up, secretive Sweetie are outcasts at school and become best friends. I like the coming of age story between the girls, although Lissa's inner turmoil and seeing Sweetie go through things that no child should have to go through left me feeling sad and bleak. At times both girls seemed selfish and annoying which I suppose is typical for a 12-year-old girl, but it distracted me from the story.

And the ending... Argh!! Abrupt, and I'm still feeling confused and frustrated... Maybe the author wanted to leave us to our own interpretation, but I like to have things wrapped up a little better than this was.

[Shari Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a moving, but not sappy, haunting story of friendship between shy, stuttering Melissa and Sweetie, a girl who is in an outcast and lives in the Appalachian mountains. Sweetie is a mysterious, and some say she is is sinister influence, and rumors around the town that Sweetie's mother is a witch. Melissa also feels like an outcast, especially at school where the other kids bully her. She befriends Sweetie and gets to know her, and soon the two become fast friends, spending their summer having adventures on the mountain.

Later in the summer, Melissa faces other problems when family problems arise, and she has also has to deal with the changes that that occur when one becomes a teenager and starts to grow up. Sadly, the day comes when Melissa realizes that she and Sweetie won't be together forever.

The story was realistic, yet mystical at the same time. It has an ending that really makes you think too.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, it's a high 4 star book or a low 5 star book. As mentioned earlier, the rich, more adult and complex writing in this novel was a breath of fresh air right off the bat, just because I'd been reading a lot of young adult novels recently. This is also a type of "coming of age" story, but told after the narrator is an adult, so through a little bit of a different lens than just a young teen telling her story while it's happening.

Basic plot: Young teen, Melissa, is somewhat of an outcast/made fun of, she meets the strange girl Sweetie, who befriends her and teaches her new ways to live. Rumors surround Sweetie and her family, and she lives in the mountains-she has scars all over her body, an all around different and mysterious girl.

The writing was beautiful and refreshing, as I've said. The story is told with skill and care, and with a dash of supernatural. ;) Once again, thanks to my Kindle for letting me find free book gems!

[Sandra Stiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweetie and Melissa on one hand seem to be total opposites. Melissa is over-weight, wears glasses and feels every cruel remark of kids at school. She, like her father believes in the magic of science. Enter Sweetie. Unlike Melissa, she often has little to eat and believes in the magic of the mountain. They find in each other a friendship to last an eternity; this was an excellent coming-of-age story with a touch of mountain magic in it. Of course anytime you can inject a story with mountain magic it makes the book that much better. This book dealt with many issues such as religion, mental illness, poverty, and family to name a few. Magendie gives us a wonderful look at life in the Appalachian Mountains. This is a lot of the reason the book appealed to me. This was the first book I had read by this author but I will definitely look for more of her work.

[Turtlegirl00 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting coming of age story. Sweetie is a "mountain girl" and Melissa is a "town girl" and they become fast friends. They are opposites but that seems to work. Like most coming of age stories, there is conflict in the homelife of each of the girls, each very different, but conflict nonetheless. The story starts slowly, developing all the characters. This does not bother me, but the climax and end seem sudden and rushed by comparison... maybe this is deliberate to intensify what is happening at the climax? but it left me feeling slightly disatisfied. This book did make me laugh and also made me cry... but I read before bed, so maybe I was overtired!! It was an okay read, and unique so I would recommend it.

[T. Frohock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shy, stuttering Melissa meets the wild Sweetie in school, and the two girls fast become friends. Sweetie's wild ways infuse Melissa with confidence, but not everyone is enchanted with Sweetie. Set in an Appalachian town in the 1970s, others see Sweetie as an outcast.

Magendie has written a beautiful novel of friendship that should appeal to readers of all ages. Melissa is the soul of reason and Sweetie is the wild wind from the mountain. Magendie takes the reader into their lives with her poetic prose. She captures what it means to live in a rural North Carolina town in the 1970s as she takes on prejudices and bullies. She also shows you the lives of two beautiful girls, who are as different as night and day.

A good story well told.

[Kelli Bragg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books that explore female friendships, regardless of the characters' ages - this book contained wonderful descriptions of a early teen relationship between two girls...I was ready to give the book 5 stars (I was loving it as much as Julie Cannon's "'Mater Biscuit" and "True Love and Homegrown Tomatoes" books, which explore the tribulations and triumphs of a teen girl) until the end....it just kind of ended. I found the writing in the last chapter confusing and I'm still not sure what happened. Because the ending was so unclear (it felt like the last chapter was written by another person), I have to give it an overall 3.5 rating.

Because I like her writing style, and because I did enjoy 95% of the book, I will try her other works.