Candidly Cline

 Candidly Cline by Kathryn Ormsbee, 320 pages.

Cline Alden loves music, just like the other Alden women before her. But these days her mama doesn't seem interested in music, insisting that it won't get Cline anywhere and that she should be practical. So when Cline hears about a young songwriters workshop forty minutes away at the University of Lexington she's sure she has to go, and just as sure her mama won't understand. With some fibbing and some help from her gran she manages to get to the workshop, where she realizes just how much of herself she's been keeping to herself. Which only becomes more obvious when she starts falling for her songwriting partner when she hasn't even told anyone she likes girls yet. 

This book was so extremely wholesome and honest. Despite being a middle grade novel Ormsbee's prose is rich and lush, and Kentucky comes through clear and strong. I also appreciate how focused this book stayed, not going off on the common diversions I was expecting from a coming of age novel and instead staying very focused on it's own themes. It also gave me a good list of classic country music to look into. Overall, I found this novel so emotionally fulfilling and smart, and I would definitely recommend it to others, middle schoolers or adults.