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Book Review of Tomato Girl

Tomato Girl
Chocoholic avatar reviewed on + 291 more book reviews


It is 1969 and Ellie Sanders has way more than her share of grief. Her father who she adores is distant and preoccupied with the young girl who delivers tomatoes to the hardware store where he works. Ellie is an only child and her mother has some very serious psychiatric problems, in addition to being pregnant. Author Jayne Pupek smartly weaves together the story of this family with all of their problems, slowly ratcheting up the tension page by page until the reader reaches the point where putting this book down becomes impossible. The story is told entirely from the lens of 11 year old Ellie. This is a relatively short book, coming in just under 300 pages but is one of those stories that will stick to you long after the last page has been turned. I really did not want this book to end, which to me is a testament to how well Pupek tells her story.