Between, Georgia

Nonny's birth is the catalyst that heightens a long-standing family feud between the Crabtrees, a clan of slovenly, unwashed reprobates, and the Fretts, a semi-prosperous, if offbeat, family whose unique doll museum attracts tourists to the small town of Between, Georgia, population 90. Biologically Nonny is a Crabtree, but she is adopted at birth and raised by the Fretts. Joshilyn Jackson is a storyteller whose clarity and elegant poetry are worthy of the tradition of our great Southern writers. The really big surprise is her reading. Jackson reads with energy, enthusiasm, and the finesse of an accomplished voice actor. Her artful characterizations draw listeners into Nonny's world, filled with quirky, genuine, and original characters. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

April 3, 2006
The biological daughter of poor, scared teenager Hazel Crabtree, Nonny Frett was left at birth with the wealthy, respectable Frett clan—a secret that doesn't keep long in a rural Georgia town of 90 people. Growing up at the center of a Crabtree-Frett feud begun by her birth, Nonny is caught between her biological family and her adopted one, between contempt for her philandering husband and the comfort of marriage, between an apartment in Athens, Ga., and her childhood home, Between. When a Doberman belonging to Nonny's biological grandmother Ona Crabtree attacks Nonny's adopted mom, deaf and blind Stacia Frett, and Stacia's twin sister, Genny, the families' dormant "war" awakens. Though Jackson (Gods in Alabama
) might cut a few corners plotwise, her strengths more than make up for it: plenty of Southern sass ("Don't call me again unless you are personally on fire") and rueful, charming confidences ("I wanted the divorce with all my heart. I did. Only I wasn't sure I wanted it tomorrow") make this a theatrical and well-paced Southern family drama.

May 15, 2006
After a great debut with "Gods in Alabama", Jackson's follow-up poses the same dilemma for readers: you can't wait to finish it but don't want it to end. Between, GA, is a real place -it lies between Athens and Atlanta -but Jackson's little town is fictional. Thirty-year-old Nonny exemplifies -between -: she works as an interpreter for the deaf in Athens, yet the folks she loves are in Between; her erstwhile husband is in Athens, but a little girl in Between owns her heart. Plus, two local feuding clans make Nonny a Frett by name but a Crabtree by birth. Jackson gives us Southern chick lit with a twist while she explores, mostly through spunky female characters, the themes of family obligations, nature vs. nurture, the mysteries of love, and the gods at work. While the subplot with Nonny's husband stretches credulity at times, the characters, especially Nonny's deaf-blind mother and her two polar opposite aunts, are spot on. Jackson's got a winner, and public libraries will definitely need multiple copies." -Rebecca Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2006
Jackson returns with a second quirky and touching novel abut the South. The story of a feud between two families from opposite sides of the tracks, it narrowly avoids the worst cliches and appropriately exploits the more interesting ones. Jackson has been compared to Fannie Flagg, and rightfully so; her characters are vivid and lovable, put in situations that are so hard to explain that it's just easier to pass the book lovingly along to a friend. In Between, Georgia, protagonist Nonny is the adopted child of the Frett family, a strong-willed, well-off, and women-run clan, but she is the biological child of the criminal and downtrodden Crabtree family. Her adoptive mother, Stacia, is blind and deaf, and Nonny falls into a career in ASL interpretation. To escape her hometown of only 91 residents, where everyone knows the story of her lineage, Nonny runs to nearby Athens and lives out a half marriage with a rock guitarist. Predictably, the strange and dramatic goings-on in Between draw her home over and over again, especially when her cousin leaves a baby daughter there for the family to raise without her. Nonny falls in love with young Fisher, and the cycle of untraditional mother-daughter pairings continues. A climactic ending with perfect story resolution makes this book tidy and uplifting, and even the most cynical reader will surely smile as the back cover closes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)