MADreads

PYT in NYC

May 29th, 2009 Katharine - Sequoya

I am very jealous of a colleague that will soon be taking a bite out of the big apple and staying a few days in the city that never sleeps.  I just finished one of my favorite YA authors Maureen Johnson’s new book Suite Scarlett which is set in New York.  Johnson is part of a YA writing group that includes the company of John Green, Scott Westerfeld and Lauren Myracle, a creative tribe sort of like a modern day Algonquin Round Table.  And New York is definitely a character in this novel and Johnson’s descriptions made me want to hop the next flight out there.

Suite Scarlett stars a PYT (pretty young thing for all you non-Michael Jackson fans) that lives in a family-owned and operated Upper Eastside neighborhood hotel.  Scarlett lives in the rundown Hopewell Hotel with her parents and three siblings, Spencer, Lola and Marlene.  Spencer is a wanna be actor, always doing prat falls.  Lola works at a department store cosmetic counter and has Richie Rich as a boyfriend.  Eleven-year old Marlene, fresh from a childhood battle with cancer, often ruffles Scarlett’s feathers with her needy demands.  Scarlett’s summer is looking bleak, she has one room to look after in the hotel and no other job prospect in sight.  That is until Mrs. Amberson shows up.  Eccentric Mrs. A takes up residency in the suite that Scarlett is responsible for and Scarlett soon becomes her personal assistant and her summer ends up being one that she’ll remember for the rest of her life.

As in any good YA novel, there is a “boy situation.”  In this case, Scarlett’s brother Spencer’s acting friend Eric.  Fresh from North Carolina, Eric has moved to the city to be an actor and ends up working with Spencer in a modern day Hamlet production.  A production that Mrs. A ends up supporting (she’s a former actress herself) and Scarlett ends up babysitting.  Scarlett falls for Eric, he falls for her, Eric’s girlfriend from NC shows up, what will happen?  This one is a MUST READ for a teenage girl this summer.  But be prepared, you may end up having to buy a plane ticket to go along with the book, NYC is calling.

Entry Filed under: Recreational Fiction, Young Adult