Dani Noir

I ended up enjoying this children's middle-grade novel once I realized that it wasn't really a mystery. Dani, the titular classic movie-lover (she worships Rita Hayworth) and amateur sleuth, spends the summer trying to figure out if Jackson, the older boy working at the movie theater in their small town, who Dani has connected with over old films, is cheating on his girlfriend. This matters not just because she likes Jackson and his girlfriend, but because Dani's still dealing (or not dealing) with the fact that her dad cheated on her mom and is now living with his new girlfriend and her daughter. Most readers will know right away that Jackson is cheating on his girlfriend, so it's not really a mystery -- it's more about Dani learning show more to accept that sometimes people you care about let you down, but that doesn't mean you stop caring about them, or them about you. She also learns a little more about not taking people for granted, not being selfish and blind to the needs of others (friends and family).

As this book is mostly a character-driven novel, it succeeds or fails based on whether you are invested in Dani or not. I think Dani is great character with a very unique voice -- she wants to be inscrutable and haughty like Hayworth, but instead she comes off as prickly and self-centered (and she is), but she remains likable. She does a lot of growing up in this book, but it�Ûªs really the amazing descriptive, unique writing that makes this book. I think this is a stand-out title, as long as you know right off the bat that it isn't really a mystery (which disappointed me for about 50 pages once I figured that out).

Also, how great is this cover? It includes important images from the book (the movie marquee, the purple tights) and captures the kiddie noir feeling of Dani's narrative with the angles and the lighting. Perfect. show less

The last thing 13-year-old Dani wants is to have anything to do with her no-good cheating father, who left the family to move in with another woman and her daughter. Luckily, there are plenty of things in her sleepy upstate New York town to keep her busy. Dani’s best friend has moved away and does not return her phone calls. Her old best friend, Taylor, is hanging around, and her mother wants Dani to work at the newspaper office with her. Luckily there’s always the Little Art theatre to escape to, where Dani can watch her beloved Rita Hayworth in old black-and-white noir films.

But then even the Little Art theatre goes sour. Her classmate Austin’s family owns the theatre, and Henry is always getting on her nerves. The projectionist show more Jackson is Henry’s cousin and is dating Dani’s former babysitter…until the day Dani spots another girl leaving the projection room. Determined to get to the bottom of two-faced Jackson’s mystery, Dani doesn’t realize the extent of her selfishness and the pain of her father leaving her until it’s almost too late to salvage the relationships around her.

DANI NOIR is a powerfully entertaining and heartfelt middle-grade novel by a talented debut author to keep an eye out for. Dani is pitch-perfect and has ageless appeal, and it’s easy to connect with the issues she faces in this story.

The star of the novel is without a doubt Dani, who’s precocious with her interest in noir films, yet just self-centered enough in that way of preteens to be infuriating and endearing. She may remind you of your best and worst self in middle school—and if she doesn’t, then she is that girl in your math class, or the kind of girl you wish you had been back in the day. Dani is far from perfect: other characters rightfully call her “selfish,” but you can’t help but feel close to her, because not only is she terribly real, she’s also incredibly funny and entertaining.

Dani’s quest to expose Jackson’s lies is lighthearted enough, but, unbeknownst to her, carries a strong connection to her feelings of paternal abandonment. Separation and divorce is a common enough subject in middle grade fiction, but Nova Ren Suma deals with it delicately here, not allowing it to consume Dani’s life and thus make DANI NOIR just another serious issues book.

DANI NOIR has a great protagonist and would make for a good read for middle schoolers, their older siblings, and their parents and grandparents. Don’t miss out on this wonderfully sweet novel! show less

Dani (13) lives in a nothing of a town and is obsessed with 1940s noir film. Her parents are recently divorced, after her father cheated on her mother, and is now living with the "other woman."
Now she discovers that her older high school friend Jackson, who is dating her older former babysitter friend Elissa, is possibly cheating on her.
Dani decides to become a 1940s style detective, find proof of his cheating, and save Elissa.
The book suffers from two problems. One should be a problem for anyone, the other, maybe just a problem for me and those like me.
The "case of the possibly cheating Jackson" is presented like a mystery to be solved. But everything that appears perfectly obvious from the outset turns out to be exactly as the show more reader assumed it would be. No surprise.
Personally, I enjoy books with likable main characters. This is even more pronounced with the book is told in the first person, as so many YA books are. I need to like the person telling the tale. Dani is not very likable. She's selfish, inconsiderate, and smart-alecky. By the end of the book, she's acknowledged some of these aspects of her personality, but she certainly doesn't redeem herself.
So: Writing good, plot, so-so, protagonist, nope. show less

DANI NOIR
by Nova Ren Suma
cover by Marcos Calo
Publisher: ALADDIN

It's three for three in good reads for me this year when it comes to novels. My first two books read fell into the YA section of things and with DANI NOIR I found myself reading my first Tween book of the year. Hell, my first Tween book in a really long time.

Loved the old movie connections in this story. The book has as one of its strengths how it uses pop culture references and it does so better than most books I have read. A lot of writers could learn from how references are used in Dani Noir. I know I'm taking note. The references are not just thrown in, they are threaded into the soul of the story.

The lead character, Dani Callanzano is not the most likable young show more lady and that is actually how I like young lead characters because looking back, be honest, weren't most of us jerks in our own ways either to others of our own age, to parents, or siblings? This characters has weakeness that are right there for you to see. As with most young people of her age, the world spins around her. This story paces its way through a short period of time in the life of a young lady as she deals with the divorce of her parents, an uncoming remarriage, and she does so by finding a mystery. While the mystery is explored she gets her first taste of love, well puppy crush love, the complicated nature of relationships, and how hero worship when it comes to fictional characters can mislead you in real life, especially when you are young.

Dani Noir has the best cover of any book I've read in a long time. It's a wraparound cover that really makes you glade you pulled it off to give it a full look. A great cover is a part of the book and could also hang on your wall just as easy. I'm not a fan of photo covers which is the popular cut and paste for most YA novels. I only mention YA novel covers in a review for a Tween book because I wish and pray that more YA novels would follow the idea. One out of every fifty photo covers work, the rest, no...no....just no. I give thumbs up to the cover artist for Dani Noir because this cover enhances the story and makes me happy to see artwork on a book cover instead of photos pulled from stock.

From reading a few places online it looks like the next book from Nova Ren Suma will be a YA novel and I will be reading it when it is released but I hope she also returns to the area of Tween fiction soon and if she does so I double hope she brings back Dani. I give this book four out of five stars. I highly recommend Dani Noir. show less

Dani Callanzano is a great 13 year old. The summer before 8th grade is shaping up to be a little rough, her best friend has moved away and her newly divorced parents take some getting used to. Luckily, the town's movie theater, the Little Art, is having a "Summer of Noir" and Dani's enchanted by the old time femme fatales and the air of mystery these movies portray. Soon, real life seems to be imitating art as Dani is on the trail of what may be a mysterious, present day femme fatale. Suma did a great job at showing Dani's growth through the summer, both with her dealing with her father's new house and family, and how Dani creates new friendships with a couple kids she thought she didn't have anything in common with anymore.

YA, nice voice. The kid's newfound interest in old movies is well done--it integrates with the story but isn't heavy handed.

Kat Rosenfield, author of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone (a great book, by the way) spoke AmeliaAnneto a group of YA librarians the other day (http://2headstogether.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/2-short-ones-from-two-heads-together/). Amelia Anne was her debut novel and although it's been up for some awards, such as the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery, I'd still consider Ms. Rosenfield an 'under the radar' author. So, I asked her for some other under the radar authors and she recommended Nova Ren Suma, describing her as 'literary'. Ms. Suma has written four books one of which is housed in our children's area and the rest in Young Adult.

DaniNoirI started with her debut novel Dani Noir, the children's book and will read them in order of show more publication. Although I probably wouldn't classify it as 'literary', it was certainly well written and totally enjoyable. Danielle (Dani) Callanzano's life is in turmoil. Her parents are recently divorced (after her father cheated on her mother). Her father is remarrying. Her mother is constantly crying and Dani can't forgive her father. She's spending her summer at the Little Arts Theater in upstate Shanosha, NY watching Noir movies and envisioning her life as movie scenes, with Rita Hayworth as the femme fatale. Dani definitely has trust issues...if her father lied to her, who else is lying to her.

When Dani sees a girl with polka dot leggings leaving the theater projection booth (manned by Jackson, who is Dani's friend Elissa's boyfriend) Dani goes into noir mystery mode, trying to find out what the story is. Along the way, she learns a few things about herself, about friends, life and love.

Now, if you've learned anything about me from reading this blog it's that I'm totally into pulp mysteries. (I found a few more anthologies to add to my collection. Some people, Susan, might call me obsessed.) And guess what...some of those pulp era mysteries (The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Laura, The Postman Always Rings Twice) have been made into some of the best movies. So, not only did I read a fun book, but I came away with a list of 17 Noir movies I need to watch. (I'm starting out with Gilda (with Rita Hayworth) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (with Lana Turner). If these stars don't qualify as femme fatales, I don't know who would.)

I am totally looking forward to reading Ms. Suma's second book, Imaginary Girls. show less