Cecelia Rose Honeycutt is a
little girl growing up in Willoughby, Ohio. Unfortunately, her mother is
mentally ill. Most of the time CeeCee’s mother is out of reality.
CeeCee’s mother spends many days walking up and down the the streets in
tattered prom dresses. She buys these prom dresses from the Goodwill
store. To make matters worse she also wears a tiara. She causes CeeCee
embarrassment galore. CeeCee battle is never knowing what else strange
can happen in a given day. I immediately felt sorry for CeeCee. I hated
the lack of consistency in the home. I hated the fact that she seemed
more grownup than her mother.
However, light shines through a dark tunnel when CeeCee goes to live with her Aunt Tootie in Savannah, Georgia. There CeeCee meets many new friends and begins to lead a happy normal life. However, this normalcy doesn’t occur until CeeCee learns to make peace with her stormy past. There are wonderful adults around to help her make the passage. There is Aunt Tootie, Oletta, Mrs. Odell and other ladies.There is also Louie, the peacock.
In the end I loved SAVING CEECEE by BETH HOFFMAN because hope and love are strewn throughout the novel like wildflowers in a meadow. One day when CeeCee is going to cave in because the past just seems too powerful Oletta, Aunt Tootie’s maid, tells CeeCee to “take the gift Miz Tootie is givin’ you and hold it tight. Don’t go wastin’ all them bright tomorrows you ain’t even seen by hangin’ on to what happened yesterday. Let go, child. Just breathe out and let go.”
Along with friends offering encouragement, there is the love of books throughout the novel. I loved reading about how much CeeCee loved her books. “Before too long I had found at least twenty books I wanted to read. Not wanting to appear greedy, I narrowed my choices to seven and found my way back to the kitchen.” Only after CeeCee’s father brings her books to Savannah do I begin to respect him a little bit.
With all of the wonderful books, the beautiful descriptions of rooms in historical Savannah homes there is also American History. Beth Hoffman brings to the reader’s table the weary, heart hurting days of discrimination. When the three black ladies head to Tybee Island with CeeCee, a violent situation occurs between the colored women and a white man. The ladies are too afraid to tell the policemen knowing their words against a white man will go unheard. In those days justice was not fair and appropriate. For days and weeks Oletta, Nadine and CeeCee strive to keep the awful secret of what happened quiet. They don’t want to worry Aunt Tootie. Besides what could she do about the whole situation? Nothing.
For all that happens to CeeCee and her friends there is one major piece of advice.
“It’s how we survive the hurts in life that brings us strength and gives us our beauty.”
However, light shines through a dark tunnel when CeeCee goes to live with her Aunt Tootie in Savannah, Georgia. There CeeCee meets many new friends and begins to lead a happy normal life. However, this normalcy doesn’t occur until CeeCee learns to make peace with her stormy past. There are wonderful adults around to help her make the passage. There is Aunt Tootie, Oletta, Mrs. Odell and other ladies.There is also Louie, the peacock.
In the end I loved SAVING CEECEE by BETH HOFFMAN because hope and love are strewn throughout the novel like wildflowers in a meadow. One day when CeeCee is going to cave in because the past just seems too powerful Oletta, Aunt Tootie’s maid, tells CeeCee to “take the gift Miz Tootie is givin’ you and hold it tight. Don’t go wastin’ all them bright tomorrows you ain’t even seen by hangin’ on to what happened yesterday. Let go, child. Just breathe out and let go.”
Along with friends offering encouragement, there is the love of books throughout the novel. I loved reading about how much CeeCee loved her books. “Before too long I had found at least twenty books I wanted to read. Not wanting to appear greedy, I narrowed my choices to seven and found my way back to the kitchen.” Only after CeeCee’s father brings her books to Savannah do I begin to respect him a little bit.
With all of the wonderful books, the beautiful descriptions of rooms in historical Savannah homes there is also American History. Beth Hoffman brings to the reader’s table the weary, heart hurting days of discrimination. When the three black ladies head to Tybee Island with CeeCee, a violent situation occurs between the colored women and a white man. The ladies are too afraid to tell the policemen knowing their words against a white man will go unheard. In those days justice was not fair and appropriate. For days and weeks Oletta, Nadine and CeeCee strive to keep the awful secret of what happened quiet. They don’t want to worry Aunt Tootie. Besides what could she do about the whole situation? Nothing.
For all that happens to CeeCee and her friends there is one major piece of advice.
“It’s how we survive the hurts in life that brings us strength and gives us our beauty.”
