Review- Must Love Black

(I'm trying a new format for these posts)


Name: Must Love Black
Author: Kelly McClymer
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 (nothing special)



Philippa is a slightly-abnormal black-clothes-loving high school junior. Still mourning the death of her mother several years ago, and bummed both about her best friend going on a Habitat for Humanity trip and her father marrying the evil Krystal, she takes a nanny job at the secluded Chrysalis Cliff. The classified ad is strange, reading:

Wanted: Nanny for 10-year-old twins. Main Coast. Own room and generous salary. MUST LOVE BLACK.

And of course, this sounds like the perfect job for her. Discreetly planning to be picked up in a limo at her father's wedding, Philippa promptly falls in love with Chrysalis Cliff gardener and part-time driver, Geoff. Unfortunately, like in many other YA novels, Geoff seemingly already has a girlfriend, who happens to be not only Philippa's boss, but her polar opposite as well. Upon arrival she finds two very well behaved little girls, and a father who is too busy managing the Chrysalis Cliff resort to spend time with his daughters. She also finds out that the girls mother has "fallen off" the notorious Cliff of Chrysalis, and they now believe she is a ghost. So begins Philippa's very eventful summer.

Must Love Black, despite the premise, is a very typical YA novel. This may, or may not be a good thing. I personally expected something a little more out-there, and was slightly disappointed. But; if you're looking something that is very quick and cute, with characters that have slightly abnormal personalities, you'll probably enjoy this.

Review for Rancho Weirdo by Laura Chester

Rancho Weirdo is a compilation of short stories about Hispanic people, and Hispanic culture. In one story, a man and his friend who live near the Mexican border open their home to illegal aliens traveling through the hills and get more than they expected. In another story a woman struggles with her gender identity, finding peace only in her later years of life. A story titled Breaking it all Down is about a woman who is having a conversation with her ex-husbands fiancé. There are 17 stories in the book, and each story is accompanied by full-color illustrations by Haeri Yoo.




I enjoyed most of the stories in Rancho Weirdo very much. My favorite was probably The Spoon, a story about a man who spends a couple days at a strange Bed and Breakfast. The narrative voice was light and refreshing, but changed slightly for every story. You could tell they were written by the same author, yet they were unique. As much as I enjoyed the stories though, I really loved the illustrations. Some were simple sketches done in black ink, while others were done with a combination of crayon, colored pencil and marker. The drawings are in full color, which is good, because you wouldn’t be able to appreciate them as much if they were in black and white. I also liked that the book is printed on high-quality gloss paper, which makes the “book” smell that I love stronger. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves short stories and illustrations.

Blahhhhh. Things have not been going my way this week.