My name was Coco Twain and I was never happy about it. My mother borrowed my first name from Coco Chanel because she thought it was so clever, so French. Little did she know that the fashion designer's name was actually Gabrielle and 'Coco' was nothing more than a ridiculous nickname. I've had to endure countless jokes about being a "hot drink" and quips about marshmallows. Had I been named Gabrielle, I could have been exotic or at least interesting. But that was neither here nor there. Having a last name of Twain was an even bigger burden. Mom actually believed she married into a family related to Mark Twain. When I learned enough to know that Twain's real name was Samuel Clemens, I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. She liked to brag about our ancestry "all the way back to Mark Twain." "So here I was, Coco Twain growing up feeling totally fictitious." Coco Twain may be fictitious, but she's fun to read. Life in her isolated small town becomes more interesting and dangerous when two escaped convicts take over her best friend Sonja's house. Coco finds herself hiding the truth and learning a good deal about friendship and loyalty. Set in rural Oklahoma in 1958, this coming of-age-story is a poignant testament to a teenager's quest to fit in somewhere.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic story,
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This review is from: Coco Twain Tells the Truth (Paperback)
On a hot day in August 1958, when Coco Twain arrives at the Reynolds house with Sonja and her mother Daisy they have a surprise encounter with two escaped convicts. The men, Buford and Al are hungry and desperate. Daisy's a lousy cook and when they get a taste of her runny eggs and uncooked sausage, Coco and Sonja figure they won't stay long. It just so happens that Buford is a great cook so he takes Daisy and the girls shopping and cooks up a meal. Daisy is very young single mom and life in tiny little Whitchit, Oklahoma, lacks the excitement she craves. Instead of turning the convicts in she allows them to stay at her secluded farmhouse. Much to Sonja and Coco's horror, she falls for Buford over their long weekend of captivity.
Eventually they let Coco go back home and Daisy makes up a story about why the men are staying with her. For the rest of the summer Coco must deal with her own confusion about the situation. She knows what Daisy is doing is wrong but she has also gotten to know the two men and is no longer scared of them. Mostly she'd like the whole thing to just go away. But it's not about to and she's going to have to deal with it, along with helping Sonja cope with having two convicts living with her. Is it wrong to care about convicted criminals? Are they human beings like the rest of us? Coco struggles with these questions throughout the book. The last thing she ever expected that hot August day was to meet two escaped convicts who would change her life forever. "Coco Twain Tells the Truth" is a brave and perhaps controversial look at the gray area between right and wrong. Porter's details about life in the late 50s in a sleepy little Oklahoma town add a fascinating richness to this sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic story.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Coco Twain Tells The Truth,
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This review is from: Coco Twain Tells the Truth (Paperback)
At a time when most books for young teens are written about wizards and magic powers, Coco Twain Tells The Truth is a breath of fresh air. Judith Porter has written this wonderful book that is fun to read and tells a great story. Coco Twain and Sonja Reynolds are two fourteen year old girls who live in the most boring little town in America, Whichit, Oklahoma.
Life gets a lot more exciting, however, when Daisy Reynolds returns home with her daughter Sonja and Coco Twain to find two escaped convicts have taken over the house. Daisy is a single mom with hopes. She latches onto Buford, one of the convicts and places her hopes of love and a brighter future squarely on him. Coco Twain, a girl with a lot of common sense, has to decide if turning the convicts in, is better or worse for her friend Sonja and her mother. Coco blooms before the reader as she sorts these things out. This book is very well written with a sense of humor to match. The characters are fully developed and believable. Add to that, it is a great story, and you have a classic. I recommend it for young and old, alike. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to ending.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never a False Note,
By Clint Hull (Cape Cod) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Coco Twain Tells the Truth (Paperback)
In "Coco Twain Tells the Truth" Judith Porter has tapped into a refreshing spring of adolescent verisimilitude that produces an enjoyable and memorable reading experience for adults young and old. Coco Twain, a likeable fourteen-year-old girl living in the town of Whitchit, Oklahoma, in 1958, stumbles upon an adult world populated by two escaped convicts and a woman anxious to seize upon what may be her last chance for love. Coco and her best friend Sonja are forced to cope with such adult issues as loyalty, loneliness, and tolerance, but they never cease to think and act like teen-agers. The adults -- Buford and Al and Sonja's mother Daisy -- remain always mature in their actions and emotions, as these are filtered through the eyes and mind of Coco. She comes across as wise, funny, and completely credible. Her solid common sense and willingness to adjust her thinking prove to be her ticket out of Whitchit. Details of small town life are skillfully incorporated throughout, and the Rainbow girls' trip to the federal penetentiary at McAlester is a small masterpiece of comic invention. This debut novel by Ms. Porter promises more good stories from her pen in the future.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
With the heat of the noonday sun and the dust flitting around, the house could have been in a scene from a bad western. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Buford Markman, Ponca City, Charles Starkweather, Coco Twain, Chance La France, New York, Wagon Wheel, Aunt Alice, Clay Banks, Alfred Hooper, Hank Devine, Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Elvis Presley, Miz Reynolds New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
With the heat of the noonday sun and the dust flitting around, the house could have been in a scene from a bad western. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Buford Markman, Ponca City, Charles Starkweather, Coco Twain, Chance La France, New York, Wagon Wheel, Aunt Alice, Clay Banks, Alfred Hooper, Hank Devine, Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Elvis Presley, Miz Reynolds New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
- The Tell-Tale Heart (Bantam Classics) by Edgar Allan Poe on page 134
- Elvis Presley by Dave Roberts on page 149
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