The Paris Project by Donna Gephart

I was initially offered this for review and turned it down - the quirky character name, "Cleveland Rosebud Potts" and small-town Southern setting did not attract me. Well, the publisher sent it to me anyways. I was just going to skim it, and ended up reading it.

Cleveland Rosebud Potts has a plan and her first step in that plan is ballet lessons. As readers follow her through her embarrassing and tragi-comic efforts at ballet, friendship with neighbor Declan in their trailer park, and interactions with her weary mother and determined sister Georgia, they learn a lot about what's going on in Cleve's life. Her father has a gambling problem and is in prison. Before he got there, he stole Cleveland's Paris Project fund from dog-walking and then stole from his employer. Cleveland plans to go to the American School in Paris and get out of small-town Sassafras, Florida, forever. A town where her only friend is Declan, who helps her with French cooking, where she lost all her dog-walking jobs when her dad went to prison, and where her family is now a pariah and the kids harass her at school.

But there are a few issues along the way. First, she gets kicked out of ballet school. Then her best (and only) friend Declan seems to be replacing her with Todd, whose dad sent her dad to prison. Georgia, her sister who is always there for her, is determined on her own plan to get out of Sassafras forever and go to the University of Vermont. And throughout all these trials and tribulations, she's torn between missing her dad, feeling betrayed by his theft, and worried about what will change - or won't change - when he gets out of prison.

SPOILERS

There isn't necessarily a happily-ever-after ending, but a happily-for-now, with hope for the future. Cleveland's dad eventually manages to get another job, cleaning the park, and is going to Gamblers Anonymous. Georgia gets wait-listed for the University of Vermont and spends her savings taking her mom and sister on a Parisian-themed vacation. When she is accepted after all, Cleveland makes the decision to give her own savings to Georgia so she can follow her dream. Cleveland accepts Declan's identity and Todd as his boyfriend. The future may not be exactly what she imagined, but it will be ok.

Verdict: Although Cleveland's dream of going to Paris may not be realistic, it's understandable in her difficult situation. Although she struggles with many difficult circumstances, she also displays a lot of maturity, eventually accepting that Todd isn't taking her place but expanding her friendships, and dealing with her confused feelings about her dad. One of my favorite parts of the story was Cleveland's relationship with her sister and how they fiercely supported each other through everything. Hand this to fans of Gephart's other tragi-comic realistic fiction stories and to kids who like realistic fiction with some humor and some serious issues.

ISBN: 9781534440869; Published October 2019 by Simon and Schuster; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library