Melissa Senate

I love the cover of this novel. Every time I see it in a bookstore, I pick it up, even though it's already on my bedside table, patiently waiting its turn after Garden Spells and Reconstructing Brigid. And Evening Class by the joy that is Maeve Binchy. I went through a phase ten years ago where I read everything by Maeve Binchy and Rosamunde Pilcher, and now I remember why. 

 DRIVING SIDEWAYS is the debut novel by the talented and very nice Jess Riley . Says one of my favorite authors, international superstar Marian Keyes, "Driving Sideways is a gorgeous novel. I loved it!" 

So what's it about?  

Cellular Memory: Is it possible for our organs to retain our energy if donated to another person?

Can we really channel someone else’s tastes in music, food, or hobbies?

And what happens if you’ve had a transplant and simply CONVINCE yourself this is true?

Jess used these questions as the premise of her entertaining debut novel Driving Sideways, which tells the story of Leigh Fielding, a twenty-eight year-old kidney transplant recipient who—six years, hundreds of dialysis sessions, and a million bad poems after being diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease—finally feels strong enough to pursue a few lofty goals she’s been mulling for years: find herself, her kidney donor’s family, and the mother that abandoned her over twenty years ago.

And what better way to do just that than a solitary road trip across the country? Well, maybe not entirely solitary, because Leigh suspects she may have inherited more than just an organ from her deceased donor. It’s this sneaking suspicion that takes her trip down some unexpected detours—and the juvenile delinquent who blackmails Leigh into giving her a ride is only the beginning.

Driving Sideways (Random House, May 2008) just went into its second printing and has been hailed as ‘hugely entertaining and genius’ by Marian Keyes, and “a hopeful and hilarious debut” by New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster. 

BIO: When she’s not reading or writing fiction, Jess Riley is reading or writing school grant proposals—which some would say are still pretty fictitious. Jess lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with her husband and their neurotic terrier. Driving Sideways is her first novel, and she’s hard at work on her next.

Check out Jess Riley's website!

Happy Reading… 

Yes, that's a giant walking clam, which means it's time for the annual Yarmouth Clam Festival, a three day extravaganza that takes over my town (in a very good way) this weekend. I don't like clams, but I do love this festival and the carnival and the face painting and the cotton candy. 

Yesterday I finished reading (for the second time) Nora Ephron's wonderful collection of personal essays, I Feel Bad About My Neck, and she was talking about books that strike such a chord in her she has to actually put them down for a moment. In the past few weeks, three books have done that for me: The Quality of Life Report by Meghan Daum; Some Assembly Required by Lynn Kiele Bonasia; and Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos.  Next up on my TO BE READ pile is Janelle Brown's All We Wanted Was Everything and the always hilarious Lee Nichols' Reconstructing Brigid.

Melissa 

My favorite little person is six years old today. What I'll remember most about his 5th year was a moment in the emergency room. That morning, five months ago, Max got out of bed and crashed to the floor, unable to walk, unable to step down on his right leg. Prior to that, he'd been limping on and off for a couple of weeks. I'd attributed the limp to his being the world's most active kid–a fall off playground equipment, a sprain. But that morning, when he suddenly couldn't walk, when he was sobbing in pain and clutching his knee, I rushed him to the emergency room.

What Max loves more than anything is novelty. The moment I carried him into the hospital, he perked up. Everything was interesting to him, even the cot he got to lay on while waiting for the doctor. So when the nurse came in with a little chart of 5 cartoon faces, ranging from very sad to very happy, and asked him to rank how much he hurt, Max picked the happiest face, the biggest smile. 

That's my son, Max.

He started off the year in doctor's offices, specialist's office. A diagnosis: Perthes Disease, a degenerative hip condition.  Ordered non-weight-bearing, Max was prescribed a wheelchair, crutches, at-home traction 20 hours a day for 3 weeks, and physical therapy (which is the only part he hated because someone was making him move his hurt "leg." A month later came the Petrie cast, which looks something like a torture device: a cast on each leg, from upper thigh to foot, with a 2 foot-wide bar between the knees to keep the hips abducted. He spent 3 months in that. 4 months in a wheelchair.

Late last month, just after he finished kindergarten (and I bow before his teacher and the administration of his amazing school), the cast came off. Now, he wears a brace 24/7, except for swimming and biking and bathing. He is restricted from: running, jumping, climbing, sliding, hopping. But he can ride a bike and swim, two of his favorite things to do. And, he can walk. Right now, he is mastering stepping up and down stairs (after 3 months in a double-leg casts, the legs don't bend easily).

He is six years old today and doesn't seem to care in the slightest what he can't do; he's always been focused on what he can do, which has taught me the biggest lesson of my life (and I have learned some whoppers over the years).

A footnote: last year's winner of the TV show Survivor, Earl Cole, also had Perthes a child, also wore the casts and braces. He won a million bucks for racing around that island. Max, too, will be racing around again in a couple of years.

So: I wish my dear Max the happiest birthday today. He is (to use his favorite adjective): awesome.

Melissa

I just bought this book and can't wait to read it. While my very soon-to-be six-year-old digs around periwinkles and hermit crabs at our favorite tidal beach this afternoon, I'll be starting MOONPIES AND MOVIE STARS by the very talented and very kind and very funny Amy Wallen, who happens to look like a movie star herself. This novel (and check out the praise below!) chronicles the journey of a group of spunky Texas ladies from their small town to the glittery streets of Hollywood in her enchanting and funny debut, MOONPIES AND MOVIE STARS. Ruby Kincaid has her hands full these days.  In addition to running the bowling alley after the death of her husband, Rascal, she has the daunting task of caring for her two boisterous grandchildren, since her daughter Violet disappeared without a trace four years earlier.  It’s 1976 and Ruby and her nearest and dearest in Devine, Texas are watching their favorite soap opera at the bowling alley when they see Violet in a Buttermaid commercial.  Expecting it will only take a little motherly guilt to rein in her wayward daughter, Ruby loads up the Winnebago and heads for Hollywood to try and bring Violet back to the Lone Star State. 

Along for the ride are Imogene, Violet’s over-bearing and pretentious mother-in-law (who’s ready to assume the title of “celebrity-in-law”), and Loralva, Ruby’s wild sister who is itching to visit Tinsel Town because it’s where all the game shows are taped – and nothing’s going to stop her from making it to her favorite, The Price Is Right.  Rounding out the group are Ruby’s grandchildren Bunny and Bubbie who are confused, sad, and excited at the prospect of finding their mother.  They give Ruby the courage she needs to track Violet down and try to make things right.

While MOONPIES AND MOVIE STARS is great fun and a lot of laughs, it is also a poignant story of dreaming big, finding home, and coming to terms with family. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amy Wallen has studied with a number of acclaimed writers, including Janet Fitch (White Oleander).  She has taken those talents cultivated in the workshops of these great writers and brought them to her own creative writing classes at UC San Diego Extension.  Amy also hosts an open mic night in San Diego, Los Angeles and New York called Dime Stories Live, in collaboration with the national public radio show airing this summer.  This is her first novel.  Visit her on the web at AmyWallen.com.

Praise for Moon Pies and Movie Stars! 

“With a pitch perfect ear for comic dialogue and fine sense of the absurd, Amy Wallen writes herself a place on the porch swing of great Southern writing, as she follows the misadventures of three determined Texas ladies sworn to find a runaway daughter…”
  –Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander

“[S]pirited and honest… Wallen capably illustrates that it is not only possible but also compelling to be funny, captivating, and compassionate, all in the same book.”
-Los Angeles Times

 “A delightful and exhilarating journey, kind of like being on a tour bus
guided by Eudora Welty on speed.” –Mary Gordon, author of Pearl

“Wallen launches a funny, touching, and bittersweet ride in search of family, but what her characters find is bigger than Texas and better than MoonPies.” –Booklist

Enjoy it! I will be going on a hunt for Moonpies. I assume they have the scrumptious treats in Maine. Here, we have tons of Whoopie Pies, but I haven't seen Moonpies since I was a kid. YUM.