Johnson, Angela. Sweet, Hereafter (Heaven).

Johnson, Angela. Sweet, Hereafter (Heaven).
Simon & Schuster/Little Brown 2010 118p 16.99
978-0689873850 secondary
Runaway 16-year-old Sweet is the narrator in the third in Johnson’s “Heaven” trilogy set in Heaven, Ohio. Sweet (”Shoog”) tells the reader that “the day I left home, most of my jeans were in the washer, and once I was gone, I wondered what I would have to wear...It don’t look good to have to come back an hour later to get your shit.” We know she’s just 16, tough, and living in a cabin in the woods nearby with an older neighbor and lover, Curtis. Their place is a haven (heaven?) for both--Sweet’s escape from her family although she drives by their house regularly--and for Curtis, who’s been to Iraq and goes AWOL instead of going back. Easygoing Curtis obviously thinks about the “hereafter” and how Sweet will remember him. She has her own private revolution by collecting and junking army recruitment material. Not as much plot as The First Part Last, but Bobby and his little girl, Feather, are mentioned, as are Sweet’s friends Marley and Jos. Will be popular with readers of Johnson’s other books and for the poetic language--Mama’s letter says “you’ve been leaving since you were born.” Gooden, Sue