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

Dumbfounded by Matt Rothschild

Rothschild, Matt. Dumbfounded.
Crown see Random, 2008, 301p, $23.95, 978-0-307-40542-5

In Matt Rothschild’s memoir, Dumbfounded, we are confronted with a challenge to decipher. Is this book autobiographical? Is it purely fiction? Does it lie somewhere in between? Truthfully, it is so entertaining that we jump from page to page, hardly believing the stories that Matt tells us about the poor little rich boy, raised by wealthy Jewish grandparents. Yet, we come aboard and are drawn into each chapter as Matt describes the comedic horrors of growing up in New York’s East Side. It’s an oxymoron! Indeed, Matt is loved. He survives. He grows up with the right values. His grandparents are real people, demonstrating the tolerance and friendship necessary to create longevity in their marriage. Matt sees this and it becomes part of him. On the other hand, Matt describes his family as dysfunctional. Yes, his own mother has rejected him. And, yes, he questions his bizarre upbringing in each and every chapter of the memoir. We laugh, we feel and we believe. Rothschild’s characters are so very real. First, there is his best friend Elaine, again an oxymoron, as Elaine hopped into her limousine with a bag of toys from FAO Schwarz, leaving Matt at the door to take the rap for shoplifting. There is Mike, the captain of the lacrosse team who poured super glue into the teacher’s shoes, leaving Matt to take the blame and to be expelled. Second, there is a neglectful mother who only reached out to Matt for her own selfish reasons. She was bereft of personality as to intentionally exclude Matt from his grandmother’s funeral, despite that fact that his grandmother was his life. Finally, there is Matt’s grandmother, an abrasive, sarcastic, opinionated fighter of everything normal in life. From her we learn that it takes all kinds to raise a child to become a happy, productive adult. At times, the humor is subtle; other times, it is blatant.
This book is for the more sophisticated reader making it a good selection for a high school library or a public library. MS