Book Review: 32 Candles

I love books where you can’t help but root for the protagonist to get their “happy ending” and 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter was definitely such a book for me. This sometimes funny, sometimes poignant story is about Davie Jones who lives in a small town in Mississippi and considers herself to be an “ugly duckling” (after being repeatedly told that she was ugly…). Davie’s sad childhood was punctuated by her abusive mother who had various personal issues that prevented her from having a healthy, loving relationship with her daughter.  As a means of escape from her unhappy home life and bullying by classmates, Davie reads books and watches Molly Ringwald movies; 16 Candles is her favorite. Davie also has a secret crush on a popular high school football player named James.

A mean-spirited prank by classmates causes Davie to leave everything she knows in Mississippi and move to California. The compelling story unfolds from there and readers get to see if Davie successfully gets her "Molly Ringwald style" happy ending.  I won’t say anything further about the book’s plot, but I will say that I definitely recommend this original story that was tied so seamlessly to the classic 80’s era teen film. After reading 32 Candles, I added the movie 16 Candles to my Netflix queue; I will admit that I don’t think I’ve seen the movie in its entirety so I really must remedy that soon!  Ernessa T. Carter has a distinctive literary voice and I look forward to seeing what else she writes.