✱✱ Book Review ✱✱ The Girl With Brazil-Nut Eyes by Richard Levine

Having a family of readers that cover more than one age group, I'm always on the lookout for books for the kids that will spark their imagination and just maybe, even teach them a thing or two. In that endeavor, I checked out Richard Levine's upcoming Teen/Young Adult release, The Girl With Brazil-Nut Eyes.

Fourteen-year-old “Bugboy” is baffled when beautiful, Brazil-nut-eyed Ashleigh sits at the school lunchroom table he shares with his other “Defective” friends. Is this the first salvo in a mischievous prank orchestrated by the “Normals,” or is it serendipitous, as Bugboy, a serial crusher, is currently crushing on Ashleigh?

Serendipitous perhaps, but not accidental. As their friendship blossoms, Bugboy discovers that Ashleigh is not only beautiful, brilliant, and in possession of rare physical grace, but also, as fragile a person as he has ever known. Getting to know her is a fantasy come true, but behind the fantasy, a grim reality lurks, readying to punch back.

The Girl With Brazil-Nut Eyes is scheduled for a November 30th release and is available for pre-order 

(Pre-order link can be found on Firedrake's Website)

*I should note that when I clicked the pre-order link, it took me to Amazon where the book is titled Mona Ashleigh - same blurb, different title.

Momma Says: 1 stars ⭐

At the start of this tale, we aren't told the narrator's age, but it doesn't take long to figure out that "Bugboy" is an adult telling the story of his teen years and how he came to know Ashleigh. Being the object of Bugboy's affection, Ashleigh is prominent throughout the book as are our narrator's group of friends. The biggest problem for this reader was that the entire story reads like an embellished memory - we're being told the story of this fellow's teen years, but there's little in the way of showing to draw a reader into the story. Even with the disconnection, I did keep reading, but it was more out of curiosity about where this story was going than anything else. What I found was a whole lot about baseball, a couple of math lessons, and a young girl who is seen through the rose-colored glasses of an admirer. The story does have some tragedy, but that disconnection I spoke of keeps it more in the abstract than it should've been.

In the end, the story comes across as a long-winded memory with a few interesting bits thrown in. 

**ARC provided by NetGalley and Firedrake Books, LLC

Momma😘

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