Dress Codes for Small Towns

Starred review from July 31, 2017
Otters Holt, Ky., is home to the Harvest Festival, a giant “Corn Dolly” statue, and Billie McCaffrey, daughter of the local preacher—and a girl no one expects to ever win a (much smaller) Corn Dolly, a cornhusk doll awarded annually to a woman who best exemplifies femininity and grace. The summer before senior year, tomboyish Billie begins to fall for her two best friends, Woods and Janie Lee, just as those same two friends start having feelings for each other. With the Harvest Festival in peril of cancellation, Billie and her five closest pals, aka the Hexagon, rally to save it. Billie’s shifting relationships with her friends, father, and small town are poignant, as is her evolving friendship with Hexagon member Davey, who introduces her to a world outside of Otters Holt, where she feels freer to question and explore her sexuality. Small-town hijinks and the true-to-life interconnectedness of the characters bring warmth and humor to Stevens’s bighearted contemplation of love, family, and home. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary.

Starred review from June 15, 2017
A gender-nonconforming 17-year-old and her crew explore desire in a small town. The only daughter of a preacher and an artist, Elizabeth "Billie" McCaffrey likes to buck convention and is warmly loved in return by members of the Hexagon, the tightknit group of four boys and one other girl she hangs with in largely white Otters Holt, Kentucky. Ever the instigator, Billie encourages the Hexagon to experiment with an aging microwave that results in nearly burning down the youth room of her father's church. Brought even closer to the boys she's been collecting "like baseball cards since third grade" and her beloved friend, Janie Lee, as they perform community service to atone for their transgressions, Billie soon realizes their high jinks barely mask awakening desire as the friends begin to explore new dimensions of their relationship. "I do not know what type of love we are--history, future, or infinity--but we are love all the same," says Billie, wanting nothing of her group's emotional intimacy to change while she questions her sexual orientation and tests the uncharted waters of physical attraction. With singing prose and a rollicking plot, Stevens presents a rich palette of characters daring to brave familial and societal expectations to become what they're meant to be. A spirited, timeless tale of teen self-discovery in those tense, formative high school moments, captured with grace, lyricism, and insight. (Fiction. 14-adult)

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June 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Billie McCaffrey likes making epitaphs for herself. Though she's not always sure what her gravestone will say, she's certain that it will be in Otters Holt, KY, and she's proud of that. Another thing she's proud of? Her group of friends. Lovingly dubbed the Hexagon, they are all joined at the hip. After a prank gone wrong, Billie has to examine her identity as her friends begin to look closer at the oddities that they had previously dismissed. Navigating gender expression and sexuality, this is a book about love-the kind you find in friendships and romantic relationships-and how confusing it can be to understand the difference between the two. The book has a large cast, and two of the six friends unfortunately fall to the wayside, not getting quite the depth that Billie, Woods, Davey, and Janie Lee receive. However, these less developed characters never become tropes, and the narrator's fondness for them is evident. Billie provides a refreshing look at the ways faith and the church as an organization can clash. This story also celebrates experimentation with identity: Billie tries out quite a few throughout. As she finds herself, readers will be rooting for her until the very end. VERDICT An instant classic. This is The Perks of Being a Wallflower without the angst, for a new generation. A good choice for every collection.-Kathryn Kania, Goodwin Memorial Library, Hadley, MA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Stevens' (The Lies about Truth, 2015) poignant new novel tells the story of a memorable summer in Otters Holt, Kentucky, fraught with big mistakes, small lies, and copious misunderstandings. Billie McCaffreyartist, preacher's daughter, and general troublemakerfinds herself in an awkward position when she and her four best friends, known collectively as the Hexagon, accidentally burn down a section of their church on the same night that one of the pillars of the community passes away, leaving the future of the all-important Harvest Festival in jeopardy. The Hexagon, and Billie in particular, find themselves in the spotlight as they work to save the festival and stay out of trouble. Stevens moves the narrative beyond mere small-town drama by building in-depth characters; examining boundaries between friendship and romance, and different generational approaches to religion; and confronting gender and sexual assumptions head-on. The lack of didacticism and a decision not to focus on demonizing religion in the face of sexual exploration (and vice versa) makes this novel stand out in exemplary fashion. This is a beautifully written, quiet, and nuanced exploration of human connection, self-discovery, and living to the fullest no matter what others might think.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)