Melanie Dulaney > Recent Status Updates

“She watches me long enough for our chili dogs to congeal and start their second lives as doorstops.”

Violet’s sarcasm is hilarious,albeit sad, since she’s using it to mask her sadness about mom’s emotional and physical absence and her impending loss of sight.

Less than a handful of profanity and all of it mild altho there have been some acronyms that stand for the F word, i.e. WTF and AF.

Florence-10 yrs old

Rising 5th graders in the 80s; environmental concerns

Aziz’s autonomous program name, determined by the program: the Overcast!!!!

Lizzie-dubbed the “British BLADE”

Ari/Ariel-The rings!

Renz-eco nihilist who destroys the Mona Lisa

Kevin-best descriptor is pansexual, has a predilection for kimonos (significant pause) & robes.

Aziz-creating an autonomous computer program to optimize everything, learning each user, Pakistani

Lizzie-agonizing over how to make death “matter” and life to end with grace; discussions of “turning the corner” & what might be around it

Ari/Ariel-Jewish/Indigenous

I love book references in novels and Tandon includes a necklace with a lemon pendant that was preorder swag for Heather Clark’s Lemon Drop Falls. Which I read and thoroughly enjoyed!

“The only way to get to the land of confidence is to fight through the dense forest of awkwardness and failure,” Cooper says after Jensen has survived his skateboard trip down Clay’s Mill Hill, complete with faulty wheel and a ditch landing.

Harper’s best friend-Marcos (both boys appear Black in illustrations)

Some “fitting” teachers’ names-Mrs Paperback (librarian), Coach Volley (PE), Mr. Tune out (band)

So many threads that will eventually lead to a murderer! Diverse characters in race, age, life situations, and plenty of secrets alluded to.

Profanity pretty regular; a mix of Fbombs and milder curse words

LBGTQ+: Revealed that Nicola and Claire exchanged at least one kiss during their friendship and Nic was certainly examining Greer’s body when they go swimming.

book list, cont.-Little Women

Book list, cont.: The Hobbit and the one that begins the journey into Story & Imagination, Moby Dick.

Books at Miriam’s: Hansel and Gretel, the Hungry Caterpillar, Charlotte’s Web, The Hobbit, Where the Wild Things Are

Creepy plot with a combination of gaming, summer camp and juvenile detention vibes plus a main character who is more of an anti-hero not likely to garner much, if any, sympathy from readers.

“Glossy posse”

Set in 1999 and shortly thereafter but doesn’t seem too retro except teens aren’t carrying cellphones and there are plenty of references to punk bands from the era such as Alkaline Trio. Amazingly, song lyrics and titles from that group fit nicely into Christian’s story.

YA thriller
Setting: Salt River, Arizona-real life whitewater rafting site with class IV Quartzite Falls

*Sophie & Gus-live with mom and dad; Gus is a soccer star & Sophie is still looking for her niche; Sophie & Luke used to be best friends
*Luke & Harper-live with their two moms; Harper is into all things drama, acting

*Scarcely a curse word to be found so far.
*The Phantom’s victims are those he deems “not following the rules,” meaning his view of decency. He has observed them dancing provocatively, wearing revealing clothes, being in sexual relationships either hetero or homosexual, sometimes both.
*Tessa’s uncle Jared is gay, living w/his boyfriend
*Any sexual contact is stated as having happened but is not described.

Sol’s cabin of girls is quite cult-like and he incorporates many of the manipulative techniques known to be used by leaders of such groups. Would pair nicely with The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson and non-fiction Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming.

*Sara/Sarita-12, 6th grade, younger bro/sis, new house, same town, mom from Colombia and small business-owner dad from Iran
*Monica-long time best friend, ballet dancer
*Funlola-new friend, Nigerian, also with school performance pressure from parents
*Sarita-new friend
*Justin-annoying, long time classmate
*Eric-Sara’s crush

Gracie-MC from Ohio, first time at the highly competitive dance camp, brown-skinned, possibly Hispanic
Jazmin-helpful and friendly, illustrated as Caucasian
Sariah-aloof, struggling to adapt to recent growth spurt, darker skinned, possibly Black

Heavy on the ballet terminology but knowing what position each term represents is not important to the plot, only helps convey intensity of classes.