Golden Girl

This book is the sequel to Dust Girl which is an American Fairy Tale.

I'm finally getting around to writing the post about this one. I've had to re read this over and over a few times now. Stress took over for a bit, and my memory was wiped a few times by migraines. I also had a bunch of library books taken (which I am still stressing over), and am working on popping out another kidney stone baby.
This stone is bad enough that I missed comic con because of it. Super lame.

Anyways, finally read this book in its entirety so here it is:

Title: Golden Girl
Author: Sarah Zettel

This book is book two in the American Fairy Trilogy, this series MUST be read in order. It cannot be skipped through or read in a mishmosh like some of the other series' I've read in the past, this one has continuity that you will miss or spoil the plot with if read out of order.

Where last we left Callie she and her friend Jack were on their way to Hollywood to scope out the Seelie Court.

I love how well the dichotomy of the Dark and Light courts are played out in this series. They are indeed uniquely american. The Unseelie court (to whom Callie's father was heir) is made up primarily of dark skinned people. Their power is held in music, specifically Jazz music. 

The Seelie court (the ones causing all the trouble for this poor girl) is made up of a bunch of shining white folks, primarily in the movie industry. Their magic seems to be mostly visual/glamour based.

Callie knows that the Seelie court has her mother, and she has suspicions that her father is there too. So she goes to Hollywood. She gets hired on quickly as a stage hand to the equivalent of Shirley Temple, and her world continues to spiral out of control. This is no place for a half fairy girl who doesn't know what she is up against.

I am highly impressed with Sarah Zettles' lists and attributes at the backs of her books. She puts up historical notes as well as complete song lists labeling the tunes that she mentions throughout the series. I am also impressed with the level of attention she pays to details that meld with true history. I will be happy to read the finale of this series (and hopefully during a time that I can pay attention.)

Find it here:  https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Girl-American-Fairy-Trilogy/dp/0375869395

ISBN: 978-0-375-86939-6

Dust Girl

People say "Don't judge a book by its cover." BUT I do this literally all the time. You have to be an author that i'm interested in, a subject I really really like, or have a decent concept for me to ignore the cover of the book and jump right into it.

This is not the case of one of those... though in the same vein, the title of the series -not the actual book title- caught my eye.

Title: Dust Girl
Author: Sarah Zettel

"Dust Girl" is book one of The American Fairy Trilogy. 

The AMERICAN fairy trilogy. THAT is something new to me. There has only been one other book series that i've read that had any books focusing on the folklore of the Americas. That specifically would be O.R. Melling's "The book of dreams" in the Faerie Chronicles series. This however is specific to AMERICA and not just north america. The good ol U.S. of A.

This book follows the story of a girl named Callie as she finds herself in the Dust Bowl in the 30s. She has a lot going against her in the world. She is a girl, a teenager, a bastard child (born out of wedlock and her father is not present), and bi-racial. (In the years that the book takes place in, she would be called Mulatto or worse if anyone found out, and it is presented that if people knew that her father was a black man... let alone a musician... she would lose any "privilege" she stood to have.)

Life is hard for Callie. She doesn't know herself. Her world is a hard one, living with her single mother who pines and promises that her daddy will be coming back for them someday, and being in the middle of the dust bowl. The whole town has disappeared around them and it's very hard to keep money in the pocket; let alone food on the table. Her mother has an inkling of the magic involved with her fathers music (jazz, which was something only "uncivilized" people played and listened to) and tells her to play to call him back to her. 

She calls something all right. but it isn't her father. 

This is another book where they portray fairies "properly". Not the cutesy flower fairies that grant wishes and do nice things, but the darker more changeable creatures that do not carry the same morals as humans at all. They have their own rules, to them. EVERYTHING is rules... but rules can be changed by wording or meaning or slipperiness. There is no dark or light, only what gets them their way.

This book does leave you wanting more, and does a great job of mixing folklore and fantasy with the realities of the times. 

Sarah Zettel did rather well I think, as this was her first novel for teens. I actively await reading the rest of this series and hope that the library has it somewhere in the systems.

Find it here: http://www.sarahzettel.com/novel/dust-girl/

ISBN: 978-0-375-86938-9