Stranded in a half-finished tract house in a Florida swamp, Ida Overdorff turns away from her unlucky past.|
Broke and stranded in a half-finished tract house in a swamp, Ida Overdorff discovers the strange community around her—a millionaire living in a tree house, two feral child theives. Ida clings to her dream of returning to New York while weathering storms both meteorological and emotional, and comes to understand that nobody's luck—even hers—is all bad.
July 15, 2013
Zuluaga’s absorbing, expertly written debut explores the intersection of dreams and reality in the bizarre wilderness of Florida’s wetlands. Ida Overdorff, 24, is just passing through the stalled development of Fort Starlight to sell a piece of land before moving to New York City to make it big as a professional baker. But when a corrupt developer takes off with her money, she has to contend with having her future placed on hold. Living in an abandoned and unfinished house, Ida encounters an equally adrift cast of characters: Peter, a rich man’s son escaping his legacy; Nancy, who has put off retirement to care for her terminally ill great-niece; Carter and Donnie, a pair of dirty and neglected children; and Ryan and Lloyd, a gay couple on the rocks who offer Ida real friendship. Ida struggles to recover from her mistakes, and while Fort Starlight doesn’t offer much besides swamps and alligators, it lends her newfound perspective and a lesson that blessings can come in unexpected places and people. This novel explores well-tread territory, but its unusual setting in a stillborn real-estate development sets it apart. Zuluaga’s portrayal of what happens to dreams deferred is beautifully executed.
May 1, 2014
Mauk's follow-up to her debut, Spark (2013), revolves around the enduring bond between two girls raised in a commune in Ohio. As the only two children in the small group, Carrie and Amelia become fast and inseparable friends. As the two grow from precocious children to quietly rebellious teens, each picks out a much older man to pin her budding romantic yearnings on. While Amelia enters into an illicit relationship with Calvin, Carrie sets her sights on Amelia's grandfather, Robert, who raised Amelia after his daughter, Sara, died giving birth to her. After Calvin spirits Amelia off to a hotel room for five days, the community is torn apart, and both Carrie and Amelia leave separately with their families. Years later, Amelia is still reaching out to Carrie via postcards, obsessed with finding the mother she has since learned is alive, while Carrie is forced to revisit her past when her actions threaten her marriage. Like her first outing, Mauk's second venture is a nuanced character study that draws the reader into its compelling, unique world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)