Melanie Sumner

So funny! But definitely quirky. The narrator and main protagonist is 12.5 year old Aristotle Thibodeau who is writing this novel as we are reading it. She received "How to Write a Novel" as a gift from her mother Diane and she diligently works through the various exercises and parts of a book. She has plenty of material! She does seem a little precocious for 12.5 - I would believe 14 better, but that is part of her charm. Her 8 yr. old brother Max is a bit of a spaz -- he has all sorts of show more issues, but really, all 3 of them do since they have continued to be a modified family after the death of Aris' father Joe when she was 4 and Max was a "bun in the oven." Now they live in Kanuga, GA where Diane's parents are with some close scrutiny from the small town, but a surprising amount of leeway to be the completely unconventional family they are. Both kids call their Mom Diane - she is an English adjunct at Kanuga College - until she loses her job for helping a student who has been arrested. Plus there is the faith pledge and the restrictions on swearing and other unChristian behavior. Penn is another unusual character -he is the kids' PMI (positive male influence) and Aris is intent on making her novel a romance between Penn and her mother. Aris' maturity and parent-figure role is hilarious, though a touch heart-breaking for how seriously she takes it and how easily Diane acquiesces to giving Aris way too much responsibility. Many of the events could only happen in a novel, they are so unbelievable, but Aris has a talent for capturing all of it, even the parts that are unflattering to her like her long-distance boyfriend Billy dumping her and her act of reading her mother's journals and then sending them out to random people who have purchased books from Diane when she did a recent purge. Funny stuff! It is a bit of a coming of age story too - despite Aris' maturity, she learns some of her own limitations and also some of the ugliness of the world and some eye-opening truth about her father. One of those well-written, light-feeling, but heavy-topic books that remind you how fun reading is. show less

12.5 year old plucky, precocious, Aristotle (Aris) Thibodeau, her mother, Diane, and little brother Max, are fish out of water in Kanuga, Georgia. They moved to Kanuga from Alaska to be near Diane’s parents after Aris & Max’s father tragically died in a car accident.

Diane, an English professor at Kanuga Christian College, and Aris both love to read and write. When Aris receives a copy of “Write a Novel in Thirty Days!” as a gift, she decides she will get the family’s life back on show more track by writing a novel, making a million dollars, and creating a new happy ending her family.

I love the original concept behind this book, and admit to being a complete sucker for young, smart, and resourceful protagonists. Sumner does a wonderful job with her characters – Diane as the overwhelmed single mother still grieving the loss of her husband; Grandma and Grandpa, Diane’s overbearing parents, harping about inconsequential matters, while failing to recognize where help is really needed; Penn, the salt-of-the-earth local Diane meets at an AA meeting, who rejects the small minded thinking prevalent in Kanuga and is always there to help Diane and the kids expecting nothing in return.

At its best, the writing alternates between heartwarming and hilarious. Unfortunately, the storyline meanders at times, and in attempting to weave between the actual novel and Aris’s novel became a bit jumbled.
Overall a satisfying read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Funny, crazy, sad, honest, abrupt . . . and a little confusing. I almost gave up on this book pretty early in, as it was a bit boring, but I stuck it out. I loved the mother, the shrink, and the main character, Louise. I loved the chaotic, stream-of-consciousness, crazy world they made up, and some of the writing was particularly delicious. But overall it lacked a cohesiveness and purpose; it needed something to tie it all together. The way it ended felt like the author just stopped writing show more one day, intending to come back, but then just said, nah, I'm tired of this and quit mid-chapter. I can ferret out her intention, I think, but it's disappointing. show less

I'm just a little tired of precocious 12 year olds. The premise is clever and the stories told by Charles and by Aris's mother Diane, via the writing their characters do, were interesting. Aris (short for Aristotle) herself, meh. But, overall, I liked the book, as in "it was fine/ok", just didn't love it. Once again, Kirkus Reviews and I part company.