2.5 stars. I might call it a cute story, but it couldn't seem to make up its mind whether it was an adult or a children's book and was a bit overly saccharine anyway. ( )

CeeCee is 12 years old when her mother dies and her usually-absent father decides to send her to live with her great-aunt in Georgia. CeeCee, even though her father is usually away, is still hesitant to leave, but once she arrives in Georgia she becomes great friends with Aunt Tootie’s cook(?).

I listened to the audio. This was pretty slow-moving, but an ok book. Not a whole lot really happened. I did find it odd that CeeCee was really only making friends with women much older than she is. She did make one friend her age, and I assume – had the book continued into the school year – she and her new friend her own age would have been the story at that point. Anyway, this one was ok for me. ( )

Well, so, I suppose any story about a young girl moving to a new neighborhood will have similarities, and probably I flatter myself to even see them, but I’m thinking that anyone who has read this story will think I borrowed from it if they read the short (1500 word) story I submitted to my library’s NaNoWriMo project this past November, starting with my Character’s name, Chelsea (Sea Cee) Chathum.
Yes, the nick name is spelled different, but it started out as Cee Cee, based on her initials, which my character actually explains in the story. And I came by the last name by picking something out of thin air that started with "Ch" because I liked the alliteration I'd had with Chelsea Church, which I'd abandoned when it occurred to me that, being in the first line of the story, it sounded like a place, rather than a person.
You’re thinking the last name isn’t relevant, because it’s nothing like "Honeycutt?" I thought the similarity ended with the first name too, until I Googled “Savanna Georgia”, since Mrs. Hoffman makes it sound so pretty that I wanted to see pictures to see if it was still that pretty, since her story, like mine, takes place some 50 years ago, in the 1960’s (it appears to be--still that pretty), and discovered through that search, that Savanna is in “Chatham” County. Yes, again a slightly different spelling, and that fact occurs nowhere in Mrs. Hoffman’s story, but I still find it odd –and seriously think anyone who read Mrs. Hoffman’s story, then mine, if they knew Georgia well enough to know counties, would certainly think I was borrowing.
It doesn’t matter, of course, since it’s not real likely our NaNoWriMo Anthology will get too far beyond our library’s community, and my story is nowhere near as interesting or well written as Mrs. Hoffman’s--mine's only about moving, where hers is about so much more.
It could easily only be me seeing similarities since I'm basing them a little on things I cut from my story to keep it within the word limit, but it occurs to me that I might have psychically connected to a book already in existence—which is scary. One worries about not borrowing from other works they’ve read, now apparently, if I decide to develop my writing skills, I have to add to that worry, that I’ll borrow from things I haven’t read.
But I’ve made this review all about me instead about this wonderful debut novel. It was great! I especially loved it because her characters share my interests; nature—both wild and cultivated, photography, old homes, estate sales, and with the added skills of being able to renovate—a talent I envy. Keep writing Beth!
( )

A sweet, coming of age story that leaves a good taste.

In this easy-to-read book, young Cee Cee Honeycutt has become her mother’s keeper and in doing so, Cee Cee has become socially awkward and outcast. Cee Cee turns to reading as her escape and dives headlong into her books.

When an unfortunate accident leaves Cee Cee alone, her great-aunt, Tootie, comes from Savannah, Georgia to take Cee Cee in. A reluctant Cee Cee comes to love Tootie and rely on Odette, Miss Tootie’s cook.

Set in a time where color divided people, Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt shows how love and empathy can heal wounds and save people.

I enjoyed this book, even though it felt a bit like a version of The Secret Life of Bees, it, like the Bees, is worth the read. ( )

Audiobook edition, read by Jenna Lamia. This was overall an enjoyable story. The author is terrific at creating vivid characters and settings, and Jenna Lamia's reading is as fantastic as always. But the story itself felt too scattered, as though it is a series of events that the characters experience and react to, rather than a coherent plot. The resolution to each event felt unfinished and a little unreal, and the story overall was a little too syrupy for my taste. ( )