Finding Me [Paperback]

Darnella Ford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2009

One thing about life, it just keeps going. We stop. It moves on. If we fall flat on our face, it will roll over the top of us without apology to keep its course. It has to. It's life.

Eleven-year-old Blaze James and her twin sister, Aerial, know two things beyond a doubt. They're two of the prettiest girls in Shreveport, Louisiana, and they'll always be there for each other. Then one night, a gas explosion leaves their father dead and Aerial severely burned, changing their lives forever.

While Aerial goes with their mother to Baton Rouge for treatment, Blaze stays behind with a neighbor. Free-spirited and unconventional, Felicity Hardaway opens Blaze's eyes to a whole new world, inspiring her to explore her own budding desires. . .and the answers she finds will bring passion, betrayal, and a love beyond expectations.

Praise for Darnella Ford

"A witty and talented author with a knack for creating unforgettable characters." --Zane

"She writes with a lavish, poetic confidence that challenges the intellect, stirs the heart, and satisfies the soul." --RM Johnson, author of The Million Dollar Deception

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ford's newest is a Southern coming-of-age involving an estranged twin waking to sexuality and love. Eleven-year-old Blaze James lives in the shadow of her twin sister, Aerial, until a gas explosion leaves Aerial horribly scarred. While her sister recovers, Blaze spends a formative year in the care of a neighbor, Felicity Hardaway, an exotic (though closeted) lesbian in close-minded Shreveport, La. After years away at school, Blaze returns and begins a passionate affair with Hardaway. Despite the town's condemnation and Hardaway's insistence that she doesn't want to get serious, Blaze is determined to fight for the emotionally abusive relationship. When Hardaway disappears, Blaze turns to next-door neighbor Nate for solace—and, as it turns out, much more. Ford's Shreveport is an unforgiving place—swampy, seductive and judgmental—that's reflected in her blunt but intoxicating prose. Unfortunately, Ford's intriguing story begs for a better protagonist; Blaze is contrary, indecisive and not nearly as smart as she thinks she is, making decisions at whim. Hardaway, on the other hand, is charismatic and flawed, prideful and vulnerable; by the end, one can't help feeling they were following the wrong character. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

This latest effort from spoken-word artist Ford is a southern-set, fast-moving coming-of-age tale with the immediacy of informal storytelling and intimate conversation somewhat like Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, but in times that have changed. Ford focuses on Blaze James, identical twin and soul mate to Aerial, who is horribly burnt and scarred in a fire that kills their drunken, abusive father and destroys their shacklike home in Shreveport, Louisiana. Cared for by neighboring Miss Felicity Hardaway while Mom’s away with hospitalized Aerial, the 11-year-old Blaze observes Miss Felicity’s somewhat graphically depicted lesbian sexual activities, setting the scene for Blaze’s own early-teen gropings with an older girl. After discovery and resultant banishment to a faraway boarding school by her mom and wealthy stepfather, now located in California, beautiful Blaze emerges at 18 with marketable fashion-design skills and returns to Shreveport, where her aimless yearnings become definite designs on Miss Felicity. A riveting tale of aching love, deceit, and shifting points on the continuum of human sexuality. --Whitney Scott

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Dafina; Original edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758216769
• ISBN-13: 978-0758216762
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,735,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I got lost in Finding Me, March 6, 2009

By 

Joel McIver/author (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding Me (Paperback)

I just finished Darnella Ford's Finding Me and find myself struggling to grasp the words that will give this book and its author the praise they both deserve. I've said before and at this point can't imagine not saying again that Darnella Ford is one of the most gifted writers on the scene at this time. I like to call myself a writer but what she does is something on a completely higher level than most wordsmiths.

I believe that she is the first and only author I have read who truly never settles when it comes to her writing. What I mean is, Ford seems to carefully...no precisely, choose each word she laces together in order to make sure every sentence says exactly what she means. As a writer I know that is no easy thing to do. Every once in a while, most writers have to say that's close enough. I don't believe Ford has ever sold anything she's written short in that fashion.

Now the book, I found myself totally and completely and helplessly lost in Finding Me. This is possibly the 21st Century's version of Their Eyes Were Watching God, My favorite love story of all time. But to simply call it a love story falls short of doing it justice. It is about romantic love, family love and most of all the love of self. I could go on for days but time and space won't permit; so I'll simply say that any lover of books and great writing should absolutely purchase this book as soon as possible.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blaze Deloux James!!, July 16, 2009

By 

Dimples "There she go reading those books aga... (Downsouth) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Finding Me (Paperback)

Have you ever read a book that took your emotions on a ride? Have you ever read a book that made you stop and wonder? Have you ever read a book where the author made it so detailed you found yourself IN the book instead of being the reader? THIS is that book! Finding Me is one of the best books I have read for the year of 2009!

The book is narrated by a eleven year old girl, Blaze James. She is definitely eleven going on twenty one at the beginning if this book! She is the identical twin of Aerial James. Aerial is the complete opposite of Blaze. They are both beautiful but nothing alike. Blaze is known as a bed wetter and wetting the bed is what saved her life one night when a gas explosion occurs in their home.

After her mother falls apart, her father dies in the explosion and her twin sister is burned far from recognition it is then that Blaze James becomes the strong one of the James family.

While her sister and mother are in Baton Rouge getting treatment for her twin sister's burned body, Blaze stays behind with neighbor Felicity Hardway. Once Blaze meets and gets to know Felicity her simple life will never be the same!

The author takes readers on an EMOTIONAL rollercoaster ride! One minute you're screaming at Blaze to shut her mouth, the next you're laughing at her, the next you're crying for her and then with her and the next all your emotions are on the edge and you don't know which one to express or use!

Darnella Ford is an exceptional writer! I never in my life read a book like this. It was hard to put this book down at times, but I forced myself to think about the situations Blaze had herself in. Blaze Deloux James seem to be on her own since eleven years old and where ever she went she was never forgotten. She left everlasting impressions on people and she will definitely have you thinking about her long after you've read the last word on the last page of Finding Me.

HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended! Darnella Ford is now one of my favorite authors and its a MUST that I order and read ALL of her books. Crave, Choke, Naked Love and Skin. I can't wait to read them! Amazon doesn't have enough stars to rate this one!!!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL READ, February 26, 2009

By 

Nichelle Andrews (Va Bch, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finding Me (Paperback)

I give this book two thumbs up. I finished it in two days. There were many twists and turns. Things happened that you never thought would happen. I definitely would reccommend this to all my friends.