Johnny Voodoo (Laurel-Leaf Books) - Softcover

Lane, Dakota

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440219981 ISBN 13: 9780440219989

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1997

Synopsis

After their mother dies, her father packs up Deirdre and her brother and moves them from New York City to Charmette, a bayou town in Louisiana. At home, Deirdre is one of three strangers trying to recreate a family. At Charmette High, she's a Yankee who'll never fit in. She's alone in a way she'd never known before. . . until she meets Johnny. He's so mysterious and so beautiful. People say he's dangerous, and that he's got special powers. All Deirdre knows is that when she and Johnny look at each other, they're so close, they're like one person. Johnny makes her feel like her true self. And he teaches Deirdre what true love is, and how long it can last.

About this title

Review:

It's hard to be the new girl in town. The other kids tease Diedre--calling her Yankee, making fun of her flat chest, letting her know that she'll never fit in. Diedre feels alone and miserable ... until she meets Johnny. They call him Johnny Voodoo, and he casts quite a spell on Diedre. In her first novel, Dakota Lane brews a complicated, surprising tale of the love that grows between these two characters. Mature readers will appreciate the unpredictable turns in the story and the insight the author uses to explore how love changes over time.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 8-10-Sixteen-year-old Deirdre's heady romance with Johnny Vouchamps is every girl's fantasy come true. He is handsome, tender, and mysterious. But most importantly, he fills the void left by Deirdre's mother's recent death. Years ago, an undefined event soured her parents' relationship, caused her younger brother to become withdrawn, and intensified the mother/daughter bond. Now, Deirdre is left with a father she loves to hate. Curtis, as she calls him, tries to re-invent himself and his family by moving them from Manhattan to Louisiana. But the move merely encourages Deirdre to manage her feelings by constructing a simplistic world of good v. evil. She carefully labels her classmates and identifies each as friend or foe. Only Johnny represents love, and rumors of his mystical powers and homelessness make him all the more enticing. Lane's writing is as seductive as Johnny's charms. Deirdre's first-person narrative, filled with references to current teen culture and slang, is wonderfully vivid and natural. It is easy to accept her view of reality in spite of hints that she is ignoring important details. And when Curtis creates a melodramatic confrontation over her romantic relationship, it is totally consistent with his boisterous personality. It also shows his underlying wisdom and leads to vital revelations about his dead wife, his pain, and Johnny's frailties. As Deirdre is forced to re-examine her inner and outer worlds, a simple tale of love lost and found blossoms into a well-paced story filled with symbolism, emotion, and intriguing characters. A novel that is both intriguing and thought-provoking.
Margaret Cole, Oceanside Library, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0440219981
• ISBN 13: 9780440219989
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208