Unsinkable Cayenne

by Jessica Vitalis (Author)

Unsinkable Cayenne
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

When her unconventional parents finally agree to settle down in one place, twelve-year-old Cayenne's dreams come true--but the reality of fitting in is much harder than she imagined. Acclaimed author Jessica Vitalis crafts an unforgettable historical novel-in-verse about belonging, family, and social class for fans of Lisa Fipps's Starfish and Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home.

Cayenne and her family drift from place to place, living in their van. It hasn't been a bad life--Cayenne and her mother birdwatch in every new location, they have a cozy setup in their van, and they sing and dance and bond over campfires most nights. But they've never belonged anywhere.

As Cayenne enters seventh grade, her parents decide to settle down in a small Montana town. Cayenne hopes that this means she will finally belong somewhere and make some friends. But it turns out that staying in one place isn't easy at all.

As her social studies class studies the Titanic tragedy (the wreckage has just been discovered and her teacher is obsessed), Cayenne sees more and more parallels between the social strata of the infamous ship and her own life. Will she ever squeeze her way into the popular girls' clique, even though they live in fancy houses on the hill and she lives in a tiny, rundown home with chickens in the front yard? Is it possible that the boy she likes actually likes her back? Can she find a way to make room for herself in this town? Does she really want to? Maybe being "normal" isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Unsinkable Cayenne is a character-driven novel-in-verse about family, friendship, first crushes, and fitting in. Set in the mid-1980s, this literary novel is for readers of Megan E. Freeman's Alone and Erin Entrada Kelly's We Dream of Space.

Select format:
Hardcover
$19.99

Kirkus

An uneven presentation of a worthwhile story.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780063314450
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Greenwillow Books
Publication date
October 29, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV039070 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Homelessness & Poverty
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV016150 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 20th Century
JUV039020 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Adolescence
JUV070000 - Juvenile Fiction | Poetry (see also Stories in Verse)
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Family life
Schools
Novels in verse
Social classes
Belonging
Crushes

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