I picked up this book because I have a distant almost non-connection connection to Burnett. Imagine you’re an English Lit major and you discover your professor, who will be reading and grading a number of your papers, is a published author. Cringe worthy enough for a person who always wants the A right? Well, now imagine one of your co-students is a published author too, and said student will be critiquing your work on a weekly basis. Enter Burnett. We took a couple under grad classes together and she was helpful, thought-provoking, and amusing. I will admit though, I never paid so much attention to grammar and punctuation in my life.

Burnett’s first outing is a solid, fast read, and as thought-provoking and amusing as I would expect it to be. Burnett introduces readers to a cast of Characters with a capital “C.” Davey is the main character (I can’t help but imagine Lena Dunham in her role) who takes us with her on a journey as a single, straight, forty-something working in a Cleveland LGBT center. Davey’s family and circle of friends are entertaining and as happily dysfunctional as any other family or group of friends one might imagine.

The cool bits:

Non-Traditional Relationships – Burnett shows readers that relationships don’t always have to be status quo to be good and healthy. For instance, Davey and her mother Leah share more of a friendship than your average mother/daughter connection. For all of the turmoil the two go through I’m willing to bet they would have it no other way. Then there’s Danny – oh, but wait. You will have to read the book to discover Danny’s connection to Davey and how that all plays out.

Contemporary Social Issues – Burnett hits readers square in the jaw with issues such as bullying and LGBT suicide. Burnett also shows there are a number of people working in the community to help educate and eradicate the negatives associated with being LGBT and/or bullied.

Vegetarianism, Vegans and the like – In my opinion Burnett is heavy-handed with the fibrous filler that is vegetarianism, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything from what I read. I never realized a vegetarian meal might include a vegetable stir fry and a salad. What can I say, I’m meat-eater. ( )