Review Detail

What a Summer!!!

When Aurora (Roar) Audley's mother left two years ago, her father needed a life change. He abandoned his San Francisco legal career and bought a farm, dedicated to growing fruits and vegetables organically. It wasn't her choice, but she had no choice. She now lives on the farm, tending to her chores, always hoping that her mother will re-enter their lives.

Aurora's fifteenth summer starts off with a bang...or a crash actually. Sitting in the passenger seat, her camera slung over her shoulder as her father drives their farm truck down a two lane road, an SUV comes up behind them, the driver honking her horn at them to speed up. Farm trucks loaded with produce for the local farmers' market don't go fast. The SUV speeds up, goes into the oncoming traffic lane, ignoring the double yellow lines, and attempts to pass. All of the sudden, a truck comes around the curve heading directly towards the SUV. Neither driver can stop and both vehicles end up rolling over, one on the road, one in a ditch.

Aurora and her dad jump out of their truck, he to help the truck driver and the infant in the back seat, she to call 911. The end result, baby Rosa is safe, but her mother, Sylvia, an illegal farm worker, dies at the hospital. The SUV driver, Corrine, has minimal injuries. This leads to a chain of events that impacts Roar's life. First, her dad institutes a civil action against Corrine on behalf of Tomas, Sylvia's husband. Second, Roar meets Forest, Corrine's son and falls in love.

These two events serve as the backdrop for this nicely written, enjoyable, coming of age story, All You Get is Me by Yvonne Prinz. During the course of the summer, Roar must take part in a deposition against Forest's mother. She must tell her father that she's dating the "enemy's" son. She talks to the mother who abandoned her two years ago.

Prinz has a very descriptive, very readable writing style. You'll visualize the Audley farm: farmhouse, barn, outbuildings, fields. You'll come to know all the characters from Aurora and her dad to the farm hands and townspeople. You'll live Roar's life alongside her, as she learns what love is all about.

Being the owner of Amoeba Music, the world's largest independent music store, Prinz knows her music and musical references are sprinkled throughout All You Get is Me. Roar is a photographer and you can see her life and her subjects through the viewfinder of her camera.

I became an Yvonne Prinz fan after reading Vinyl Princess which I reviewed on YABooksCentral.com. Reading All You Get is Me merely solidified my admiration for her writing. Treat yourself to two fun, fulfilling books and read Vinyl Princess and All You Get is Me.