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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
In this collection of short stories, many of which were published AS short stories, we see Crescent, aka Cress, Delahanty, grow from age 13 to age 16. She's a bit of an odd, imaginative and creative duck, with crushes and ideas and friendships that are very typical of girls of these ages.
It's also interesting to "visit" southern California of the 1940's, in neighborhoods where the oil derricks are pumping and all wood burned in fireplaces has oil oozing out of it. There's no real through storyline, but it's an interesting coming of age read, and with the author's usual attention to detail and beautifully drawn characters.
It's also interesting to "visit" southern California of the 1940's, in neighborhoods where the oil derricks are pumping and all wood burned in fireplaces has oil oozing out of it. There's no real through storyline, but it's an interesting coming of age read, and with the author's usual attention to detail and beautifully drawn characters.
Every time I say I'm done with these episodic bildungsromans I find another one that pulls me in. Cress is dreamy, slightly morbid, and not overly good like some of these characters tend to be (I'm looking at you, Anne, but I love you). It's an interesting one especially if you're looking at other novels in the same vein, from different time periods. Otherwise, it's just a refreshing and short little YA book that has a touch of nostalgia.
Surprisingly current in many ways, Cress Delahanty is a coming of age novel about a young girl with an unusual spirit. Poetic, funny, intrepid, with a bottomless integrity and curiosity, Cress at times seems wiser than her years and then by turns incredibly childlike and innocent. This book must have been considered a bit scandalous when it first appeared, because even now some of the things Cress says and does do cause a bit of a raised eyebrow. But over and over she glides through life's obstacles and oddities with a clear-eyed vision and grasp of reality. Sometimes her dreams and ideas can be quite imaginative, which only makes it all the more fun. The adults in this book, too, surprise and delight. I am pretty sure they are all imaginary, which adds to the reader's delight in the mind of the author.
❤️❤️❤️ I love Jessamyn West’s writings. Very lovely. The last chapter was odd, it felt different. So it ended strangely for me. But I loved it anyway.