The "Bookworm" Is About to Put the "Ya-Yas In Bloom"

 I finished off Cookie O'Gorman's "Bookworm" yesterday afternoon.  It was a good, fairly quick read.  However, as seems to be my theme as of late, it was a little juvenile.  Overall, however, it was a good, albeit slightly predictable, story.  I'm hoping that I can say the same about "Ya-Yas In Bloom" by Rebecca Wells.  Though, to be quite honest, I can't recall if I've read it before.  I do remember reading the other 2 books in the series, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and "Little Altars Everywhere";  I also love the movie that the first book inspired. It starred Ellyn Burstyn and Sandra Bullock.  "Little Altars Everywhere" is an emotionally charged addition to Rebecca Wells' award-winning bestseller and number one New York Times bestseller "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."  

"Ya-Yas In Bloom" reveals the roots of the Ya-Yas'  friendship in the 1930s and roars with all the raw power of Vivi Abbott Walker's 1962 T-Bird through sixty years of marriage, children, and hair-raising family secrets.

When four-year-old Teensy Whitman prisses one time too many and stuffs a big old pecan up her nose, she sets off the chain of events that leads Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie to become true sister-friends.  Told in the alternating voices of Vivi and the Petites Ya-Yas, Sidalee and Baylor Walker, as well as in the voices of the other denizens of Thornton, Louisiana, "Ya-Yas In Bloom" shows us the Ya-Yas in love and at war with convention.  Through crises of faith and hilarious lapses of parenting skills, brushes with alcoholism and glimpses of the dark reality of racial bigotry, the Ya-Ya values of unconditional loyalty, high style, and Cajun sass shine through.  Necie's wise credo, "Just think pretty pink-and-blue thoughts," helps too...

But in the Ya-Yas' inimitable way, these four remarkable women also teach their children about the Mysteries: the wonder of snow in the Deep South, the possibility that humans are made of stars, and the belief that miracles \do happen.  And they need a miracle when old grudges and wounded psyches lead to a heartbreaking crime...and the dynamic web of sisterhood is the only safety net strong enough to hold families together and endure.

After two bestsellers and a blockbuster movie, the Ya-Yas have become a part of American culture--icons for the power of women's friendship.  "Ya-Yas In Bloom" continues the saga, giving us more Ya-Ya lore, spun out in the rich patois of the Louisiana bayou country and brimful of the Ya-Ya message to embrace life--and one another--with joy.

I was honestly hoping that Richard Paul Evans would have released the latest installment in his "Michael Vey" series, but it has been delayed until November, as has his upcoming holiday novel, "Christmas In Bethel."  However, I am more than content to read (or re-read) "Ya-Yas In Bloom" until the next leg of my "Journey Through A Book!"