I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! I laughed, I cried (more than once!). The characters teetered closely to stereotypes (the flighty but lovely older caretaker; the wise African American housekeeper, the sexy neighbor) and the main character endures some predictable moments (realizing how horrible it was to be African American in the south at the time, etc) but the story was so sweet that it's easy to look past these conventions. Filled with suggestions on how to "live your best life," this book will touch your heart. I'm a sucker for happy endings, and this book does not disappoint. ( )

What a delight!. A first time author can strike some trepidation but this book was engaging from the first few pages. Not really a traditonal coming of age novel, the author never turned what is a sweet story, saccharine. Ceecee is a likeable girl and seemed to have saved some people around her, while they were "saving" her. I would highly recommend it. ( )

I was charmed and delighted by this engaging debut novel by Beth Hoffman. The author offers rich characterization and witty but poignant commentary in telling the story of Cee Cee Honeycut. Cee Cee, who as a young child has had to care for an increasingly mentally ill mother until her mother's death when Cee Cee is 12 years old, is used to fending for herself. She finds it difficult to trust until she meets a group of women, some of them quite quirky, to say the least. Gradually Cee Cee finds herself valued and cared for by the women,"written in her life book," in a way she has never known. I love to read stories reminiscent of ones I read as a child and this novel brought to mind, Anne of Green Gables and Polyanna. Many thanks for the opportunity to review this book. ( )

I cried through the first 40 pages of this book, and smiled through the rest of it. It's rare to find a book that is so emotionally moving from the first page (don't get me wrong I often cry at the end of books just rarely do I find the characters so compelling that the emotions hit me that early on).

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is best described as a mix of The Secret Life of Bees and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

The novel opens with young CeeCee left to care for her increasingly mentally ill mother (her traveling salesman father has all but abandoned the family). After her mother's tragic death see is sent to live with her Great Aunt Tootie in Savannah. It is there she encounters a cast of characters so overdrawn they would be unlikely if they wouldn't have fit nicely into Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Although the ending was a litlle too "wrapped up in a big shiny bow" for my tast, and some of the plotting a bit to predictable and convenient , I enjoyed the novel very much. I highly recommend it ( )

Coming of age in the 60's in the south -- that's the task of twelve-year-old CeeCee, who is thrown from life with a mentally damaged mother in the north into the world of Savannah Georgia. CeeCee's life has been far from perfect: her mother spirals deeper and deeper into her own psychosis, and her father, unable to cope with the reality of his life at home, has left, visiting only on rare occasions. That CeeCee's mother loves her dearly is clear, but Hoffman has also been able to paint a portrait of a woman fighting her own demons of mental illness. CeeCee's beautiful, damaged mother remains locked in her memories of 1951 and winning a beauty pageant back home in Georgia. Though her home life is chaotic, CeeCee finds some stability in a deep friendship with a neighbor. When CeeCee's mom dies in an accident, the girl is uprooted from Ohio and sent to live with her great aunt Tallulah (aka Tootie) amidst the live oaks and magnolias of Savannah.

The world CeeCee finds herself in is one of women: Aunt Tootie, Oletta Jones who can cook like nobody's business and knows how to dole out words of wisdom, too. There are the eccentric neighbors, the Gardening Society, and friends of Oletta, for a different slice of life. The women around her shape her world, help her to learn and grow. These are women of different ages, races and social standing, but they all are fierce in protecting their independence, and about finding the passion in life, whatever it might be for each individual. She also has to face her fears that her mother's illness might be hereditary, and every twelve-year-old girl's worry: "Will I make friends at my new school?"

This was a debut novel for Beth Hoffman. I've come to expect certain things from novels of this genre and this met all of them: gentleness, a bit of conflict, a hint of danger, a wise woman of African American descent (this one had several) who can help the heroine move forward in her life, resolution and new beginnings. There were portions that rang true, portions that missed the mark with me, but on the whole, it was a gentle, affirming read. (One of my dearest friends had a mother who became prey to her own demons of bi-polar disorder and manic-depression, and because of my familiarity with this through her, I found Hoffman's descriptions of Camille pretty accurate.)

I'd like to say thank you to LibraryThing and Pamela Dorman Books for selecting me for this advanced reader copy. I'm always quite happy to read about my beloved South, where, despite all our flaws, we do have a certain way of grace and charm when we approach life. This book arrived yesterday and I read it today while home with the flu. Saving bookczuk, it seems, too. ( )