Letting Go of Bobby James, or How I Found My Self of Steam

By Hobbs, Valerie

Publishers Summary:
After being left by her husband at a gas station in Florida, sixteen-year-old Sally Jo Walker, also known as Jody, makes some difficult decisions and a better life for herself. Annotation. A heartwarming journey to self-discovery When sixteen-year-old Sally Jo Walker, known as Jody, is abandoned at a gas station by her husband after he hits her, she summons up all the courage she can to move forward. With just twenty dollars to her name, she begins a new life in Jackson Beach, Florida, washing dishes at Thelma's Open 24-Hour Cafeacute; and sneaking into the cineplex at night to sleep. Eventually she saves up enough money to rent a cheap motel room. There she gets to know Effaline, and comes to see that here's a girl who is more alone and lost than she is. Jody is going to save her. And in trying to do so, Jody might just save herself. At turns heart-wrenching and funny, Valerie Hobbs's latest novel introduces readers to an unforgettable and surprising young woman who manages to break free of an abusive relationship and finds true strength and her "self of steam."

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ISBN
978-0-37434-384-2
Publisher
Foster Farrar


REVIEWS

School Library Journal

Reviewed on September 1, 2004

Gr 8-Up Sally Jo Walker, known as Jody, is a 16-year-old runaway bride of 13 weeks who finds herself on her own with $20 in her pocket and nowhere to go. If Bobby James hadn't hit her, she wouldn't be holed up in a gas-station bathroom. She uses the time to write a letter on paper towels to the corporate head of the Harris Teeter food-store chain with a suggestion on how to improve his inferior coleslaw. This literary device is a bit confusin...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Horn Book Magazine

Reviewed on September 1, 2004

Sixteen-year-old Texan Jody finds herself all alone in a "foreign state" (Florida); her husband of thirteen weeks has just given her a black eye, and she's locked herself in a gas station bathroom until Bobby James finally drives off in his Duster. The story may be a familiar one (Jody manages to find a job, a place to live, a fri...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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