Cherry Money Baby

Cherry Money Baby

YA fiction
Have you ever felt you understood all you wanted your future to
hold, only to have a random event leading you to question your
decisions and maybe want more? If so, you've been in a similar
predicament to Cherry Kerrigan, protagonist of John M. Cusick's Cherry
Money Baby.
Cherry is finishing her senior year of high school much less
well that her dad wants her to. They do not share his college
aspirations for her or his fervent belief that she'd be better off
anywhere else. She loves their run down working class town, takes
more pride in her restaurant job than in academics, and wants to marry
her boyfriend and keep house for him and bear and raise their children.
Cherry's town has been invaded by a movie making cast and crew.
One day at work she saves a star, Ardelia Deen, from choking by
performing the heimlich maneuver. That night Ardelia stops off at
Cherry's trailer to thank her for saving her life. That is the start
of a very intense friendship.
Cherry's new life is very heady and intoxicating. Gaining
access to venues she had never known existed and people she had never
dreamed she'd mingle with makes her feel enchanted, able to take risks
she wouldn't in her more real life. But could she be going too far?
And will her decisions take her too far away from what she wants most
in life?
This coming of age novel is a really fun and suspenseful read.
Cherry is a gritty, resilient heroine it would be hard not to cheer
for as she strives to make sense of her challenging and perplexing new
life.
On a personal note, I can relate to Cherry. For the first four years
of being on school committee I served in a Veazie only group. We
shared a superintendent with Orono and met together annually but
otherwise were on our own. We pretty much did the same thing year
after year. Then, under a mandate from the governor we joined with
Orono and Glenburn to form a regional school unit. Suddenly I was
able to work with a diverse body to define our vision for ourselves
and our school unit. We were big enough to make really big changes
like adding an alternative high school and preK classes. Taking on
challenges like policy writing and contract negotiating put me in
touch with strengths I never knew I had. Then the RSU was torn
apart. Now that I've seen what's possible, serving on a small one
town school committee is torture in a way it could never have been
before.
A great big shout out goes out to those who bring change and challenge
into our lives and serve as catalysts for exploration and growth!
Julia Emily Hathaway


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