Quirky fun quick read. This is definitely a book I would recommend to reluctant readers as it quickly draws you in and holds your interest throughout. A fun read for a Saturday afternoon in the park. ( )

Lulu Mendez has grown up in the small town of Dale, Virginia, focused as long as she can remember on getting out, going to college, pursing a future in medical research. She's just finished her senior year of high school, and her dream is within her grasp.

Then her father tells her that he's lost her college fund and she won't be leaving for the University of San Diego after all. Or anywhere, for a while. Or ever, since she has no confidence in his promise to win back her college fund in some big deal, real soon now.

As Lulu's dreams are exploding, her friend Roni, who has only dreamed of marrying her boyfriend Bucky and having babies, is invited to audition for a local, but increasingly popular and successful, band called Lullaby Breaker.

Suddenly Roni has a future that could take her away from Dale, while Lulu is looking at a future of continuing to work in Sal's Salvage, the local junkyard. But Lulu is not going to accept such a constricted future. In a matter of days, good girl Lulu has a plan.

It's a plan steeped in the traditions of the Virginia hills, but it's also illegal, and dangerous. It couldn't be a bigger break from her past, but she's desperate, and convinced it's the only key to her future.

Bucky and Roni are willing to help, but none of them knows what they're doing, and they need the help of someone who does. Lulu recruits Mason--a few years older, from a moonshining family, and with his own secrets, troubles, and dreams.

Lulu tells the story of her summer in a letter to Mason, some months after the end of that fateful summer. Is it an apology? An explanation? A love letter? We're on tenterhooks the whole time, not knowing the end until the end. What we do see are the growing tensions--between Lulu and Mason, with their growing attraction and determination to resist it; between Roni and Bucky, as they fight to maintain a relationship fraying under the pressure of Roni's new future; between Lulu and Roni, with their reversed positions, now that Roni has a future and Lulu is in danger of losing hers forever. And of course, the tensions between Lulu and her parents, whose love gave her dreams and whose weaknesses seem to be snatching those dreams away.

This is a really excellent young adult novel, and as such not limited to a young adult audience. Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley ( )

interesting read....I'm unsure how I feel about the moonshine aspect of the book and its appropriateness for teen readers. It was an odd sort of romance book; I'm not sure how well it works. It wasn't badly written, but I didn't feel it was terrible.

I received this ebook ARC from Netgallery.com in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This book was okay. I liked the character development in all the characters; they learned to realize that some things aren't what they seem, and they accepted the harsh realities of life. And the romance between Lulu and Mason was sweet.

However, I couldn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. Maybe it's because I usually prefer fantasy and romance, but there were times when I found myself reluctant to continue reading because it was boring me. I can still say that it is a good story, but it probably didn't appeal to my inner fantasy lover.

I know others have and will enjoy this novel more than I did. I recommend it to those who like contemporary and YA books. ( )

This book is written in the first person, in the form of a letter sent by Luisa (“LuLu”) Mendez to Mason Malone. We know something disrupted their relationship, but we don’t really know what until the end. Lulu is writing this letter, rehashing the events of the previous summer, in order to help herself understand what happened and why.

Lulu has lived her whole life in Dale, Virginia, and has always disdained what she calls this “gritty mountain holler” of “redneck Virginia.” She has been accepted to college in San Diego and can’t wait to get away. She needs more money for tuition, however. She has worked hard to save, but her father “borrowed” her money and squandered it, and now she is desperate for cash. When someone delivers a moonshine still to the junkyard at which she and her BFF Roni work, they “relocate” it to some empty land with the help of Roni’s boyfriend Bucky, and Bucky’s friend Mason. Calling upon Mason’s expertise (he comes from a family of moonshiners), the four start making alcohol to sell to raise money.

Lulu’s plan fills her with conflict; the fact that moonshine is such a lucrative market in Dale is exactly what makes her hate it. But the process is exciting, and she and the other three have a good time learning and creating. And the attraction between LuLu and Mason is palpable. Nevertheless, there are a lot of reasons none of them should be messing around with this illegal activity, especially not Mason, who is a recovering alcoholic. But LuLu has tunnel vision, with San Diego at the end of her sightline.

The reader knows from the very beginning because of the narrative structure that the many dangers inherent in what the four of them are doing will catch up to them, but it is unclear in what way, and whether any of them will remain unscathed, until close to the very end. How it all turns out is a bit of a surprise. LuLu learns some hard lessons, and gains some insight about responsibility, maturity, and love in the process.

Discussion: This is an interesting story, different than the usual YA fare, which tends to focus on kids from the middle and especially upper classes, and is generally not as gritty.

I had difficulty feeling positive toward LuLu as she became “distilled into something new and dangerous”; I think the first person approach ironically kept me at more of a distance. Or maybe it was Lulu’s general lack of consideration for anyone's needs beside her own. The three other main characters, alternatively, were extremely sympathetic, especially Mason. Mason had a negative reputation in Dale he couldn’t shake - one that constantly kept him down and threatened to defeat him, but he was far and away the most likable of the four: he had talent, integrity, and a huge amount of courage. LuLu may have been the one with grand “dreams,” but it was Mason for whom I found myself rooting.

Evaluation: This story is unique and thought-provoking - haunting, even, with memorable characters. I think book clubs or groups of readers would find a lot to discuss with this one. ( )