M+O 4EVR by Tonya Cherie Hegamin

 

I've been reading like a mad woman and will continue to do so as every good writer should. If I blog in the next few months, it will be to write book reviews and give these wonderful writers my props!  (This also helps me as I brew over my current artistic work.) 

First up--Tonya Cherie Hegamin!

M+O 4EVR is Tonya Cherie Hegamin's debut novel. The story is about love in a universal sense: family, friendship, first love, ill-fated love...

The novel opens with two African American teens, Marianne and Opal (M is biracial, O is not) and the two are taking a drive around town after Marianne has been crowned the town's first black homecoming queen. Marianne has dreams of the glamorous life, of running far away, of making it in Hollywood. Opal has dreams too that come crashing down...

Hegamin's ability to paint these characters is so strong that they pulsate off the page and the reader is mesmerized and enchanted. It almost feels wrong to know these characters as intimately as we do, which makes the blow that appears later in the novel so devastating.

One girl wants so badly to be loved by everyone. The other wants so badly to love just one.

Both teens have been raised practically together by O's family since childhood. The grandmother is real. The father is loving. The mother appears as ethereal, in a lovely scene at sea, as the stories she once told M and O before they went to bed. This sets up the story-within-a-story of Hannah, a slave who escaped her owners and found herself in the arms of real love.

Ultimately, Hegamin's message is clear: "It doesn't matter who you love, just so you love them right." That love may last a lifetime or a mere mass of stolen moments. One thing is sure--love endures.  We make sacrifices for that love.  We see this in M+O's story and in Hannah's story as well.

This is a beautifully written novel for teen and adult readers to enjoy and discuss. It also raises issues of racism, sexism, and class without feeling forced. Highly unforgettable and recommended!