Book Review: Loving Cee Cee Johnson

Book Written by Linda Leigh Hargrove 
Reviewed by Rhonda Clark 

“Listen. Learn. Love.”  Celine Johnson lives in a world she created. Long forgotten were the days she grew up in Pettigrew, North Carolina and was known as Cee Cee, the daughter of a militant black activist. These days she goes by her given name, and claims to be from another town. She’s even locked away most of her childhood memories. Life’s fine until she’s forced to return to Pettigrew.

As soon as she drives past the city limit sign, she’s pelted with painful memories. Memories she’d rather not visit. To make things worse, a handsome white playwright has turned those bad memories into a play. She discovers things aren’t always what they seem.
Loving Cee Cee Johnson is a great read. The characters are filled with depth and internal conflict between actions and beliefs. You find yourself sympathizing with unlikely characters. The setting of small town North Carolina with early Spring tornadoes were accurate and vivid. I did feel like I wanted to jump into the story and help it along now and then, but the lessons learned far outweigh any minor flaws. I enjoyed this book very much. I would recommend you read The Making of Isaac Hunt. It fills in background information for Loving Cee Cee Johnson. And I can’t wait to read Saving Michael Tate.

Favs:
Character: John Manning
Part: Tornado number 2, very well written.

Dislikes:
Character: Brother, not enough depth for me
Part: Prologue, great piece of writing, very emotional

Product Details:
Loving Cee Cee Johnson
Linda Leigh Hargrove
ISBN: 0802462707
Moody Publishers/Lift Every Voice, September 2008

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