November Book Reviews from Highlands Ranch Library

Moonlight in Odessa

By Janet Skeslien Charles

Adult Fiction

Although Odessa might be the humor capital of the former Soviet Union, in " Moonlight in Odessa" by Janet Skeslien Charles, it is also a city mired in unemployment, power outages, food shortages, and rampant corruption. Luckily for the reader it is also a city full of lively, quirky, and charismatic characters that fill the pages of this entertaining debut novel.

Young Daria has an engineering degree, speaks fluent English, and understands the Odessan system of bribes and "facilitation," but the only job she can find in the depressed Odessa job market is as a secretary at a foreign shipping/import company. The pay is great, but the job comes with the agreement that she'll sleep with her boss, David, as part of the job. Daria is trying to support herself and her beloved grandmother so she feels she must take the job. She manages to put off David's advances for months and then re-directs his lust to Olga, her childhood friend and neighbor, who then shows a new vicious and conniving side of herself. Daria is also being pursued by, and is unadvisedly attracted to Vlad, a sexy and dangerous mobster.

In fear of losing her job, now that Olga's in the picture, Daria gets a second job with "Soviet Unions," an online dating/matchmaking service where she acts as a translator between the desperate American men seeking wives and the equally desperate young women seeking escape from Odessa's poverty and hardship. Caving into pressure from all sides, Daria begins to communicate with a couple of Americans and eventually agrees to come to America to meet Tristan, a middle-aged teacher from San Francisco, a city that epitomizes all that is attractive about America. Of course everything doesn't turn out as planned and Daria's evolution through this realization is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Charles does a wonderful job of fully developing her many characters and she adds luscious details about life in Odessa, a city of great contrasts. The way Daria accesses her relationships, her options, and her attraction to her home city rings true. The book tells a great story while inviting the reader to consider the difficult choices a person will make when striving for change. Like the complex city of its title, " Moonlight in Odessa" is a stimulating blend of funny and serious writing.

--Laura Stone Johnson, Reference Librarian, Highlands Ranch Library

Flygirl

By Sherri L. Smith

Young Adult Fiction

Ida Mae Jones wants to, literally, fly. Unfortunately, being an eighteen-year-old black girl with limited means in the midst of the Jim Crow 1940's south makes this dream nearly impossible to achieve. That is, until WWII breaks out and Ida Mae Jones sees an article about WASP: Women Air Force Service Pilots. Using her "passably fair skin" to pose as a white woman, and doctoring her father's license, Ida embarks on her dream of entering the military to serve her country as a pilot.

At base camp Ida Mae finds friends and goes through the rigorous training needed before the government will legitimize their WASP status. She struggles at home with her choice to leave her Mother's farm. Ida Mae's challenges as a woman and as a black southerner, illustrate the sacrifices she and others are forced to make.

" Flygirl" is carefully researched with some of the stories taken from biographies of real WASP women. The dialog rings true for the era with a lot of fun descriptions about the planes and on flying. Ida Mae talks about the fire inside a person willing to take her feet off the ground, and you can't help but agree that this character is enthralling.

-- Heather Wilcox, Patron Service Technician, Highlands Ranch Library

You can check out these, and other great books, from any branch of Douglas County Libraries. Visit our website at DouglasCountyLibraries.org to place a hold or give us a call at 303-791-READ