" With "The Sweet In-Between," ] bestseller Reynolds delivers again . . . Simple prose rich with subtext, convincing dialogue, and a fascinating pr...
read full description
reviews
Dec 29, 2008
Allison
rated it: 
Sherri Reynolds is one of my favorite authors and she did not disappoint with this story. Kendra, also known as Kenny, lives with her father's girlfriend while he serves time in prison for trafficking. She is getting close to being 18 and is worried about where she'll go after she hits the landmark birthday. Kenny is also getting worried about her sexuality, seeing her father in prison, watching her almost-brother get lost in a new relationship. The story just flows so well and her writing
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 03, 2009
Jeanne
rated it:
Kendra AKA Kenny is going through a difficult period in her life. Like most characters in Reynolds's novels, she is dirt poor and living in the South. Her father is in jail, her mother is dead, and she is currently living with her father's girlfriend, Aunt Glo.
And did I tell you that Kenny binds her breasts and dresses like a boy? That, by the way, is the most intriguing part of Kenny, and Reynolds waits a good, long time to explain the origins of this behavior. No matter, as it More...
And did I tell you that Kenny binds her breasts and dresses like a boy? That, by the way, is the most intriguing part of Kenny, and Reynolds waits a good, long time to explain the origins of this behavior. No matter, as it More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 13, 2009
Julie
rated it: 
The other day I was listening to Lucinda Williams, and when I heard "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" I thought immediately of this book ("little bit o' dirt, mixed with tears"). The protagonist seemed entirely real to me--the very picture of unhinged, devastating Southern poverty and ignorance. I'm Southern myself, and I have gritted my teeth in irritation at the stereotyping and the complete-missing-of-the-boat in literary and dramatic depictions of slices of Southern life. (I
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 21, 2009
Laren
rated it: 
This is a coming-of-age story about a "gender-confused" girl whose mother has died, and she lives with her dad's girlfriend since her dad was sent to prison for drug dealing. She also is concerned that she will be thrown out once the foster-care money stops coming when she turns 18. The story starts the night their neighbor shoots an intruder who turned out to be a college student on spring break who meant to be entering a nearby vacation home when she trespassed the neighbor's home.
More...
Mar 06, 2010
Jill
rated it:
My book selection process usually goes a little something like this: I read a review, add the book to my wish list, buy the book several months later, and then read the book months after that. So when I first started reading The Sweet In-Between, I was trying to remember what it was about that long-ago review that made me want to read this strange little book. Now that I've finished it, I still don't remember, and frankly, I don't really care. Whatever it was, I'm grateful for it, because as
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 18, 2010
Erika
rated it: 
This was not a cheerful book to read. It tells the story of Kenny, a teenage girl who lives with her Aunt Glo (who's not really her aunt, but her dad's girlfriend) because her dad is in prison for drug trafficking and her mom died of breast cancer when she was a little girl. She was abused by her almost-brother (Aunt Glo's son), and that made her chop off her hair and bandage her breasts to look like a boy. She dresses in baggy clothes as if denying her gender will protect her from more pain.
More...
More...
Jun 13, 2011
Ally
rated it:
I picked up "The Sweet In-Between" on a whim, in the library, after reading the first page and finding myself caught up in the pithy, vulnerable voice of Kendra. Abandoned by her imprisoned father, confused by her sexual identity, and living with a woman she calls "Aunt Glo" but who isn't her blood relative, Kendra had me from the get-go.
However, as the novel progresses, the story (which had such promise) begins to fall apart. Part of this has to do with a distract More...
However, as the novel progresses, the story (which had such promise) begins to fall apart. Part of this has to do with a distract More...
Dec 17, 2008
Julie
rated it:
Seventeen-year-old Kendra “Kenny” Lugo is the protagonist in Sheri Reynolds’ The Sweet In-Between. Her mother died from cancer when was a kid, and father is doing time for selling and taking drugs. Kenny lives with “Aunt Glo,” a former (before Mom) and current lover of her father’s, Aunt Glo’s two sons and granddaughter, seven-year-old Daphne.
Kenny’s problem is much larger than her living situation. She is petrified of what will happen to her when she turns eighteen. Will A More...
Kenny’s problem is much larger than her living situation. She is petrified of what will happen to her when she turns eighteen. Will A More...
Aug 04, 2011
Debra
rated it:
Sheri Reynolds graduated from my Alma mater, so I feel an affinity for her simply due to that. In all honesty, though, she creates characters beyond the mainstream and poignantly brings them to life to face situations beyond the norm of mainline fiction. Other books by Sheri Reynolds include Bitterroot Landing and Rapture of Cannon which I also highly recommend.
In this novel we meet Kendra "Kenny" Lugo, a young woman on the brink of adulthood, but with a childhood fraught More...
In this novel we meet Kendra "Kenny" Lugo, a young woman on the brink of adulthood, but with a childhood fraught More...
Jul 11, 2009
Janice
rated it:
Although this is my least favorite of the Sheri Reynolds books I have read, it is still an engaging story. Kenny (Kendra) is an adolescent girl, struggling with sexual identity, living in a “family” that barely makes it, financially, emotionally, socially, most of the time. A deceased mother and incarcerated father has left Kenny in the care of her Dad's girl friend, Glo, a woman who has her own children and gradnchildren to attend to, as well as Kenny. Glo is kind of a broken mother hen, she
More...
Jun 18, 2009
Adele
rated it:
A novel by the author of The Rapture of Canaan, it was the story of a hard-luck 17-year-old girl named Kendra and all the fears and ambivalence she encountered being raised by a stepmother, “Aunt Glo”, in a hard-luck southern family of “yours, mine and ours.” (Her mother had died of breast cancer, and her father was in jail, due to the consequences of a drug problem that was in large part due to his reaction to the death of her mother.) Although “Kenny’s” story and experience includes poverty,
More...
Apr 10, 2009
Louise
rated it:
As usual, another fabulous story by Reynolds!
From dust jacket:
"Kendra, or "Kenny", has grown up in a family that's not really hers. Her momma died of cancer when Kenny was very young, and "Aunt" Glo is, in fact, her daddy's girlfriend, who took her in when her father was sent to jail for drug trafficking.
Nearing eighteen years old and facing confusion over her sexuality, Kenny binds her chest with ACE bandages and keeps her hair croppe More...
From dust jacket:
"Kendra, or "Kenny", has grown up in a family that's not really hers. Her momma died of cancer when Kenny was very young, and "Aunt" Glo is, in fact, her daddy's girlfriend, who took her in when her father was sent to jail for drug trafficking.
Nearing eighteen years old and facing confusion over her sexuality, Kenny binds her chest with ACE bandages and keeps her hair croppe More...
Jul 20, 2010
Megan
rated it:
I think this is actually shelved in fiction, not YA - but it fits in both. I loved this book - it's heart-wrenching, and also totally beautiful and touching (like these moments where Kenny's aunt Glo says things like "If Kenny is a lesbian, she is OUR lesbian" and tells the prison guards not to give Kenny "a complex" about her gender presentation when they visit Kenny's dad).
It also captures some of the ruminating misery of adolescence where there do not seem to More...
It also captures some of the ruminating misery of adolescence where there do not seem to More...
Jan 26, 2012
Tracey
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 28, 2009
Carrie
rated it: 
This site is called good reads. I debated even putting this on here. NOT a good read. I grabbed it off the library shelf knowing zip about it. I wish that is where it would have remained for the next sucker instead of me. I finished it today, and am not sure how or why I made it to the end. This author has a strange mind, and I need to go wash mine out with soap after reading her weirdness! I am just putting this on here as a warning, if you see it on YOUR library shelf, move on by!
More...
More...
Apr 25, 2010
Juliette
rated it:
I have been really hesitant to read anything else by Sheri Reynolds, because she wrote one of my very favorite books of the last few years, The Firefly Cloak . I was worried that nothing else that she wrote could even compare to that lusciously beautiful book. While this book comes no where close to The Firefly Cloak , her writing talent and ability to craft a vivid location and solid characters is still evident. What's missing? The fact that nothing really happens in this book. I almost quit
More...
Jan 20, 2009
Kendra
rated it:
Go figure that the very first time I see my name used for a main character in a book, she has gender identity disorder and prefers to go by Kenny -- a nickname that I spent my whole childhood avoiding. Anyway, this is a short, quick read, and Kenny is a sad, sweet character. She spends her time obsessing about a dead girl, trying to avoid attention from men, and endearing herself to "Aunt Glo," her father's girlfriend (who took her in after her father was sent to prison), so that she
More...
Jan 24, 2009
Jayne
rated it:
Sheri Reynold's previous theme resurfaces in this book - the young girl's punishment and disguise of herself as a girl who is apparently not worth any attention as a human being - only a sex object. I enjoyed the book, but at times was annoyed but the excessive use of dialogue - only a personal opinion. I think it destroys the cadence of the figurative language. The ending is hopeful - not contrived - I like that. I think older teen girls would especially enjoy this novel. It would be a great
More...
Dec 29, 2010
Mike
rated it:
If I'd read a review of this it would have reeked of "chick lit" and I'm pretty sure the author has had other work featured in Oprah's book club, which would likewise normally be a turn-off for me. But I attended a reading at the Virginia Festival of Books that Reynolds was at and heard her read from this and decided I'd check it out. I was not at all disappointed, as it was a really good read that totally inhabited the mind of the main character (it helped that I had Reynolds' voice i
More...
Sep 21, 2010
Lynann
rated it:
This book follows Kendra, better known as Kenny, as she struggles with her identity and a 'family that isn't really hers'. After the death of her mother, and the incarceration of her father, Kenny is forced to live with her father's girlfriend and her children. Kenny is scared of being forced out at the age of 18, but with no where to go, she struggles to make herself as useful as possible. More importantly, Kenny struggles with her sexual and gender identity, which makes this book great for tee
More...
Jul 18, 2009
korey
rated it:
I love it when I stumble upon good books and discover another great author. This is an incredible story about a young teenage girl in the midwest who is struggling with living in a girls body and feeling like she doesn't belong....anywhere. The girl "Kenny" will totally make you cry with all she has to go through just to survive. It's gut wrenching in places and hilarious in others. The author writes similar to Billie Letts, so that's probably why I like it so much. If you like those t
More...
Mar 03, 2009
Jane
rated it:
To quote Publisher's Weekly: Simple prose rich with subtext, convincing dialogue and a fascinating protagonist combine to produce a heartstring-plucker that's explicit, tender, sad and hopeful.
This is the story of a 17 year old living in Virginia. Her mother is dead, her father is in jail, and she is living with her father's girlfriend, Aunt Glo. She is gender-confused, and her own story combined with the story of her unusual family make it an interesting and quick read.
This is the story of a 17 year old living in Virginia. Her mother is dead, her father is in jail, and she is living with her father's girlfriend, Aunt Glo. She is gender-confused, and her own story combined with the story of her unusual family make it an interesting and quick read.
Apr 12, 2010
Mommalibrarian
rated it:
This book was filed with the adult books but it would be a valuable read for a high school student. The sexual picture painted of the surrounding 'Southern' culture is rough and intimidating. The story concerns the interaction of that exterior life and the unformed interior life of Kendra - Kenny. There is no hard line drawn by the author between what influences come from outside and which are internal. The story is a positive one of learning to live in your own life.
Apr 11, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Not my favorite Sheri Reynolds book, but it's still fantastic. Not a neat and tidy novel in a pretty little package. Instead, it's ugly and messy and a quick photograph of someone finding hope amongst all the rubble of life - starting to get her shit together in life. My very favorite author in the world wrote one book. My second favorite has only written four. Life is not fair (as Reyolds demonsrates without question in every one of the four)...
Jul 22, 2009
Kimberly
rated it:
Once again, Sheri Reynolds has fully engrossed me as she introduces me to Kenny-a gender confused teenager living in a "less than traditional" family in the South. I found myself simultaneously feeling sorry for Kendra/Kenny and yet in the end I knew that Kenny had strength of character that, while rare, was going to overcome the difficult hand she had been dealt by life and rise to something greater than from whence she came. Bravo Sheri-like "Rapture of Canaan", this book
Jul 14, 2009
Susan
rated it:
A “gender-confused” 17-year-old girl is living with her dad's girlfriend while her dad is in jail, and fears she will be kicked out when she is 18. She binds her breasts and drinks only at night so she won't have to go to the girls' bathroom during the day. A touching story about a very likable teenager who does the best she can but always thinks she isn't good enough. Short at ~200 pages, and well worth the reading time.
Jun 07, 2009
MissFidget
rated it:
This book deals with poor American families in a matter of fact, sometimes funny way and somewhere along the line it sucker punches you with the sheer power of blossoming female sexuality.(Sorta the same way the protagonist gets sucker punched with her own sexuality.) Well written, easy to read, with authentic voices and characters. I enjoyed it immensely and was sad to finish it.
Jun 23, 2011
David
rated it:
A good COA story. I did not feel the depiction of a girl living in Southern poverty was stereotypical. The main character, 18 year old girl suffering from gender-confusion, was by far the most powerful character with the others being about 2.5 dimensional. Also I do not think she was suffering from gender-confusion but knew what awaited her when she developed.
Jul 13, 2009
Julie
rated it:
I always enjoy Sheri Reynolds' books. This has a similar protagonist as her previous books in that she is a very poor adolescent girl. Kenny is a girl struggling with gender identity and worrying that she will lose her home once she turns 18, since she is not a "true" daughter or niece. Reynolds' writing is always lovely and this was a good, short read.
Dec 20, 2008
Rebecca
rated it:
Not as magical as Sheri's older books, but an entertaining read, nonetheless. When I say magical, I mean that glow you get inside when you read an amazing plot. No glow, but I read it cover to cover, which is a decent sign. The exploration of the main character's struggles with gender identity was intriguing but not as moving as I'd hoped.
