Jukebox [Paperback]

Gina Daggett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2010

Debutantes in love. With each other.

Grace Dunlop is the eleven-year-old girl with everything, including a trust fund. Transplanted from London to the United States, her life is forever changed when she meets the precocious and irreverent Harper Alessi.

Attending black tie balls and fielding boyfriends, the two girls develop an unusually close friendship that endures into college. Finally presented as debutantes by their proud parents, they hope for an end to the close hold their family has on them. It’s 1984, after all, and they have choices, don’t they? Maybe that’s why all the songs on the jukebox suddenly suggest a dangerous passion they haven’t been able to express.

Gina Daggett is best known as “Lipstick” of the columnist duo Lipstick & Dipstick, and as an award-winning writer and successful blogger. Jukebox is her first novel, and is in pre-production for a feature film.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Bella Books (November 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594932123
• ISBN-13: 978-1594932120
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,011,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

GINA NOELLE DAGGETT is an award-winning writer, director, producer, speaker, and columnist in CURVE Magazine.

Daggett's debut novel, JUKEBOX, was published by Bella Books (Nov 2010). While Jukebox was a work-in-progress, it won a grant from POWER UP. She has adapted the novel into a screenplay, and will be producing and directing the film through her production company Chateau Entertainment. Post-publication, Jukebox was also the recipient of the Alice B Lavender certificate for debut fiction and is a finalist for the 2011 Golden Crown Literary Society awards.

Daggett is best known under the penname "Lipstick" in the popular national advice column LIPSTICK & DIPSTICK featured in CURVE. Voted the No. 1 column by readers, Lipstick & Dipstick have also published a book: "Lipstick & Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships" (Alyson Books 2007). As Lipstick, Daggett regularly speaks on college campuses, corporate headquarters and to large crowds with Dipstick (Kathy Belge). Together, they emceed the mainstage at San Francisco Pride in 2008, where they entertained the crowd--which pushed 200,000--before Margaret Cho.

In 2010, Daggett won OUTtv's Hot Pink Shorts contest. The prize: OUTtv funded her first short film Til Death Do Us Toby, which she also wrote and directed. She also co-wrote an original song, Hightail, with Christine Havrilla and Patricia McKenny. OUTtv produced a documentary about "Making Of Til Death Do Us Toby." It airs on OUTtv. You can learn more about Daggett's filmmaking ambitions here.

Under the umbrella of Chateau Entertainment, Daggett has a cooking show, Forking Delicious, in development with OUTtv.

A cum laude graduate from Pacific University's Creative Writing Program, Daggett is an avid runner, as well as a seasoned sommelier (or so she likes to think).

When she's not pounding the keys of her computer, she's pounding the pavement with her running shoes, skiing in Whistler or beachcombing for sea glass. Daggett lives in Vancouver, BC.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars totally fantastic! November 17, 2010

By racketstrings

Format:Paperback

an amazing first time accomplishment for Daggett! Such an entertaining, fast paced, original novel but even more a wonderful love story. A great read for any woman no matter sexual preference or age. I love her attention to detail and incredible talent for making me feel as if i was in the living room of all the characters.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wow. November 19, 2010

By min

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

such a great book. funny, heartbreaking, realistic - but most of all its greatest quality is how it captured all the feelings i experienced throughout my own journey. "jukebox" is a wonderful read but so much more than that...gina allows for it to be a personal voyage back in time...it was the key that unlocked some wonderful memories. it was lovely to go back.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic and beautiful February 9, 2011

By B. Rabkeb

Format:Paperback

What were your dreams as a child? What did you want to be when you grew up? Who were your friends? How did you decide how you would interact with others? How you would structure your relationships? What influenced your life? When did you 1st consciously find another person attractive? A woman? Admit you might be different than your society thought you should be?

These are the types of profound life events this novel leads you through, and prompts you to remember. It's full of life and living, drama, textured characters and emotions, angst and love. The careful, yet lovely, vibrant prose paints a picture of depth and authenticity that was an absolute pleasure to read.

Even though no two people really live the exact same life, there is something so genuine about how the characters Harper and Grace--growing up together as privileged debutantes in Arizona, with all the pressures and expectations that go along with it--unselfconsciously form a deep bond that they never label or question. It just is. Until they are forced to decide, suddenly as individuals, what their relationship truly means to them as adults.

Not heavy or graphic on the sex, though it's certainly there. Not as fluffy as some beach books, but neither is there a tragic ending, or too much angst that would keep me from reading it on vacation. The emotions often seem to have more weight or realism than you typically find in a book you're reading for pure escapism, but I definitely wouldn't let that put you off if you're looking for a fine book to spend time with.

Brilliant emotional and sensory journey. Satisfying conclusion.