Sarah
4 journalers for this copy...
Twelve-year-old Cherry Vanilla is jealous of his mother's popularity as a "lot lizard", a.k.a. truck stop whore. He wants to be better, and more famous, so he borrows her name, Sarah, and heads off into the wilds of West Virginia.This one may end up in a LGBTQ box - I can't think of an appropriate place to wild release it...
This is book # 3/51 for NancyNova's 2015 MultiYear States Challenge.
♥ Direct link to purchase rainbow Ballycumber labels from the BookCrossing store here.
♥ Download printable 10-per-sheet labels here (click on the download link at the very top of the page on the same line as the file name).
3/51 read so far for this challenge:
LA | NY | WV
Headed for New Jersey in emmejo's LGBTQ+ box.
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I'm so glad you've found this book!
Won't you please make a journal entry to let the book's previous readers know that it's safely in your hands? How did you find it? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?
It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!
If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.
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I'm so glad you've found this book!
Won't you please make a journal entry to let the book's previous readers know that it's safely in your hands? How did you find it? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?
It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!
If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.
BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!
This arrived in the LGBTQ+ bookbox.
Son of sex worker, the unnamed main character goes into the same job at 12 years old under the name Cherry Vanilla. With his long blond curls and wardrobe stolen from his mother, he becomes one of Glad's famous "boy-girls" servicing truckers at select stops. Frustrated that Glad won't assign him the jobs he wants, he sneaks off to a rougher, seedier stop and under the name Sarah and a female identity, joins another crew. But although this crew can provide him with great fame and the best jobs, the violent pimp and a jealous sometimes-friend mean there is a constant risk. One mistake could ruin Sarah's life.
I finished this slim book in a couple hours. It was very interesting. There is a tendency to write about sex workers as either tragic figures desperate for another lifestyle or almost nymphomaniacal characters who think being paid for the sex they are having is wonderful. For Sarah, it's a job. You need money to survive and this is as good a way as any. Partly because s/he is a child, we don't get the moralizing that usually goes along with this type of story. There are plenty of good and bad people here, but those opinions aren't based on judging someone for sex-for-money.
There isn't a lot of plot here, but Sarah's live-in-the-moment personality and the wild assortment of places and people s/he sees keep the tension high anyway. The writing is simple and easy to read, although sometimes a little too dramatic for my taste.
I was also interested to read online that Garbage's song "Cherry Lips" was partly based on this novel.
I finished this slim book in a couple hours. It was very interesting. There is a tendency to write about sex workers as either tragic figures desperate for another lifestyle or almost nymphomaniacal characters who think being paid for the sex they are having is wonderful. For Sarah, it's a job. You need money to survive and this is as good a way as any. Partly because s/he is a child, we don't get the moralizing that usually goes along with this type of story. There are plenty of good and bad people here, but those opinions aren't based on judging someone for sex-for-money.
There isn't a lot of plot here, but Sarah's live-in-the-moment personality and the wild assortment of places and people s/he sees keep the tension high anyway. The writing is simple and easy to read, although sometimes a little too dramatic for my taste.
I was also interested to read online that Garbage's song "Cherry Lips" was partly based on this novel.
Added to K00kaburra's LGBTQIA Bookbox
Journal Entry 6 by 
haahaahaa98
at Panera Bread - Porter Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, October 13, 2015
haahaahaa98 at Panera Bread - Porter Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Released 8 yrs ago (10/13/2015 UTC) at Panera Bread - Porter Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
To be released at bookcrossing local meeting!
Caught at the Oct 2015 Boston Bookcrossing Meetup.
Very well remember the controversy around this book in the early 2000's with the unmasking of the hoax in 2006 by New York Magazine and the New York times -- for more information on the fraud/hoax about the author: http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/jt_leroy/
The woman who sold the film rights to the book was subsequently sued for fraud and had to pay damages. And the woman she paid to "appear" as the author, wrote her own book in 2008. The more serious damage I think resides with both the transgender community and also the literary community. The woman and the husband who created the author character reached out to very famous authors, agents and these were looking for diversity, but did not do their homework. Now after reading the book and not sure if it was originally submitted by the author, who was again a white, straight woman I have to say I feel would not have been published or feted. The industry says it is always looking for new voices but they should be voices of quality and really be authentic. J.T. Leroy was a marketing creation/hoax that fooled a lot of high level people. In a word: sad.
The woman who sold the film rights to the book was subsequently sued for fraud and had to pay damages. And the woman she paid to "appear" as the author, wrote her own book in 2008. The more serious damage I think resides with both the transgender community and also the literary community. The woman and the husband who created the author character reached out to very famous authors, agents and these were looking for diversity, but did not do their homework. Now after reading the book and not sure if it was originally submitted by the author, who was again a white, straight woman I have to say I feel would not have been published or feted. The industry says it is always looking for new voices but they should be voices of quality and really be authentic. J.T. Leroy was a marketing creation/hoax that fooled a lot of high level people. In a word: sad.
Released community book shelf, cafeteria basement level, One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108
