cover image Dancing with Elvis

Dancing with Elvis

Lynda Stephenson, . . Eerdmans, $17 (323pp) ISBN 978-0-8028-5293-9

This debut novel set in the 1950s has a strong Southern flavor and a feisty, foul-mouthed heroine, who will have readers alternately laughing and sympathizing with her torment caused by a not-so-temporary houseguest. Fourteen-year-old Frankilee Baxter and her parents think they're doing their Christian duty by taking in Angelica Musseldorf, who has been abused by her mother. However, it soon becomes apparent that the Baxters have "bit off more than [they] could chew" in the words of their wise housekeeper. Not only does Angelica turn out to be a demanding (and lazy) brat, but she also flirts with anything in pants, including Frankilee's "handsome heartthrob" cousin and her "old coot" of a grandfather. Adding insult to injury, Angelica, with her blonde hair and curvy figure, is able to nab "everybody's dreamboat," James Colton, while Frankilee, "the perfect human matchstick," is stuck with dull Jerry Fred Porter. Besides conveying Frankilee's day-to-day annoyances with Angelica (who always places herself center stage), the novel addresses more serious issues of small-town prejudice, risings against integration and the murder of a young African-American athlete. At once charming, sharp-edged and tragic, the book captures the essence of eccentrics, manipulators, victims and criminals co-existing in pre–civil rights–era Texas. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)