BJ’s Standout Reads December 2021
Two Truths and a Lie by Meg Mitchell Moore Sherri and Katie just moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts and they’re trying to fit in, but they have to be vague about where they came from. The story Sherri is telling is a terrible divorce and she just moved from Ohio. But of course there’s a lot more to Sherri’s story. Sherri gets into the world of the local Mom Squad, and the gossip and keeping up with the Joneses that happens in town. When Mom Squad daughter Alexa figures out the truth of where Sherri is from the plot thickens.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett 
This is one of my favorite books. I’ve read it before, I’ve seen the movie, and now I listened to the audio book. The story is about a woman named Skeeter who lives in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. She was raised in a house that employed a black maid who raised her. But then Skeeter sees the massive disparities between the black maids and the white women who employ them. The maids can get accused of stealing and get fired and ultimately black-listed from every working as a domestic ever again. The maids are paid poorly and live in near poverty while they care for the white wealthy families. The racial tensions in 1960s Mississippi are incredibly high, as black people are beaten for standing up for themselves, and to speak up is to risk everything. Skeeter is an aspiring author who convinces the maids to share their stories and she gets them published in a book and they risk it all to write the book. Fantastic story, great job.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau Mary Jane is 14 and lives in 1970s Baltimore. She takes a job as a summer nanny for Dr. and Mrs. Cone, a young hip family who lives down the street. Mary Jane comes from an incredibly conservative home, and life in the Cone household is the exact opposite. Dr. Cone is a psychiatrist who takes on the addiction recovery of a famous rock star. Johnny, the rock star, and his wife Sheba move in to the Cones’ household, and this ends up being a transformative summer for Mary Jane. Not only is she in charge of the five year old daughter, she kind of ends of caring for the rest of the family as well and tames their chaotic household into a semi normal environment. But Mary Jane breaks the conservative shell that her parents have imposed upon her, all the while lying to her parents about where she’s at and who she’s becoming.
BJ Knapp is the author of Beside the Music, available for purchase here. Please sign up for the Backstage with BJ Knapp mailing list to get updates on events, signings, dog pictures and so much more.
added on 01.11.22