“Hello. My name is Cecelia Rose Honeycutt, and I live at 831 Tulipwood Avenue. The preacher on the radio said if we opened our hearts and asked, we’d be saved. He said it was that simple. So I’m asking, will you please save Momma? Something’s wrong with her mind and it’s getting worse every day. And while you’re at it, will you save me too? There’s nothing wrong with my mind, but I sure could use some help down here. I’ll do anything you say. Thank you. Amen.” (15)
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is by far at the top of my "Summer Favorites"! In fact, just before finishing this book I was checking out the “big” (not really) sale at Border’s Books and checked the shelf for more books by Beth Hoffman. Little did I know that this was her first and what a gem! I have to say, I haven’t been this excited about a book since I finished “The Help” (2009).
You will fall in love with 12-year-old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt. Being raised by her Mom, Camille, in Willoughby, Ohio, she lives a life that is anything but normal. Her mom appears almost bi-polar at times, having several different personalities. Her father, Carl, is never present as he is a traveling salesman. We learn later, he travels so that he can stay away from his wife… This leaves CeeCee to keep her Mom in the house, to remind her Mom how to act, to tell her mom “it will all be okay” when she falls into yet another depressed state of mind and essentially, act as the adult in the relationship even at such a young age. Imagine if your Mom was the laughingstock of your town?
How can I describe Camille? She was the 1951 Miss Vidalia Onion Queen and her personality seems to have withered and morphed after coming to Ohio. Camille parades around in prom dresses from the local Goodwill Store. Camille is laughed at by the neighbors and called names to her face. Her over-done makeup, pearls and furry high-heels are only just a small piece of the big picture! CeeCee is constantly picked on because her Mom is “crazy” and this poor little girl is left to hide between the front and back cover of books to avoid dealing with the life she’s been dealt. As a result of her embarrassment and shame, she spends all of her spare time working on her schoolwork or at her neighbor, Mrs. Odell's house.
When Camille is hit and killed by an ice cream truck, CeeCee’s father will hand her over to her great-aunt Tootie who still lives in Savannah. CeeCee is afraid and anxious about leaving one person in Ohio, Mrs. Odell, her next-door neighbor. The old lady is truly the only friend CeeCee has that would never judge her because of her mom. They share Sunday breakfast at Mrs. Odell’s, garden together, listen to church services on the radio and spend a lot of time just being together. The embrace they share when CeeCee leaves for Savannah is one that makes you tear up just thinking about happening.
Life in Savannah is one of privilege and eccentricity! As CeeCee begins adjusting to a completely new lifestyle she begins to understand her great aunt that much more and learns a lot along the way. Aunt Tootie talks to CeeCee about passion and fire. She explains that everyone has a passion as she shows CeeCee an old, yet antique-like home that was nearly demolished but saved by her and a group of ladies who raise money to save the original houses of Savannah . “Everyone needs to find the one thing that brings out her passion. It’s what we do and share with the world that matters. I believe it’s important that we leave our communities in better shape than we found them” (101). Aunt Tootie helps to build CeeCee’s confidence by telling her that, “ ‘It’s what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us’” (249). CeeCee is in fact a very bright girl with a great deal of potential. Hoffman does however tempt this girl with the notion that she too will go crazy like her Mom as she grows up, but never fully develops this possibility (thank goodness).
We also come to love Oletta Jones, an African American woman working for Aunt Tootie that falls hard for CeeCee after losing her own daughter at age 13 to viral meningitis. Oletta teaches CeeCee to be brave and to face her fears. She teaches CeeCee to be accepting of all types of people and even teaches her how to swim in a neighbor’s pool (there’s more to the story, but I can’t tell you everything!). She tells her about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the work he has done to build equality amongst blacks and whites. Oletta is the first person that CeeCee truly understands that she "loves".
Wacky, extreme Southern neighbors also star in Cecelia’s “Life Book” as Mrs. Odell calls this journey on earth, coming and going as fast as butter fries on a hot pan! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself… I’m going all Southern here). But few will make a bigger imprint than the women she meets in Savannah and the way her life changes for the best as the biggest summer of her short life comes to an end.
I would highly suggest this book – it was perfect in every way! While I know sequel's can rarely live up to the high standard set by the original text, I'm going to hold out hope for a sequel, so we can learn about CeeCee and her first year in an exclusive private school for girls in Savannah!
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