Finding Yvonne, Brandy Colbert
Finding Yvonne, Brandy Colbert
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Finding Yvonne

Author: Brandy Colbert

Narrator: Maya Barton

Unabridged: 6 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/07/2018


Synopsis

For fans of Nicola Yoon and Nina LaCour comes a striking novel about difficult choices from acclaimed author Brandy Colbert.

Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.

Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father, Yvonne meets a street musician and fellow violinist who understands her struggle. He's mysterious, charming, and different from Warren, the familiar and reliable boy who has her heart. But when Yvonne becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she has to make the most difficult decision yet about her future.

From the author of Pointe and Little & Lion, comes another heartfelt novel about the twists and turns that can show up on a path meant only for you.

About Brandy Colbert

Brandy Colbert is the award-winning author of several books for children and teens, including Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which was the winner of the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the American Library Association's Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. Her other acclaimed books include The Blackwoods, Pointe, The Voting Booth, The Only Black Girls in Town, and the Stonewall Book Award winner Little & Lion. A member of the faculty at Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children, Brandy lives in Los Angeles. You can find her online at brandycolbert.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Emma on March 01, 2019

4.5 Stars! Really enjoyed this book! It was somewhat different than what I expected, but I feel it was actually much more complex and satisfying. Brandy Colbert has done it again! CW: substance use (view spoiler)[ abortion (hide spoiler)] I went into Finding Yvonne knowing it was about: 1. A girl who loved her violin, but didn't kn......more

Goodreads review by Chelsea on February 07, 2019

WOW. This was an absolute roller coaster of emotions for me. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first because I found a lot of the decisions Yvonne made to be really immature, but then my enjoyment skyrocketed when I took off my Adult™ glasses and realized that all of the things she did were 100%......more

Goodreads review by Elle on May 01, 2018

This is such a complicated book, because I kind of like it in hindsight but I also think it's one of the most non-books I've ever read.... but I also love it so much in hindsight?? Can I just reiterate that slice-of-life stories are aggressively not my thing? And that I hate cheating as a plot de......more

Goodreads review by CW ✨ on October 16, 2018

A messy yet wonderful book that unexpectedly but profoundly explores the uncertainty of the future, family, and the choices we make. - Centers on Yvonne, a Black teen who, although has dedicated 11 years of her life to the violin, now feels like she has lost her passion. This book follows the grief s......more

Goodreads review by Nev on February 15, 2020

3.5 - I feel like this book bit off a little bit more than it could chew. There are a lot of interesting challenges that the main character Yvonne faces. However, because the book was so short I don’t think any of these different plot points are given the time that they needed to be fully explored.......more


Quotes

"Brandy Colbert has crafted a meaningful and masterful book that explores all of the different ways that we can surprise ourselves. Yvonne's path through family ties, hidden talents, and difficult decisions reveals the hard-won truth of an unforgettable character. I loved this book."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Robin Benway, National Book Award Winner and New York Times bestselling author of Far from the Tree

"A pitch-perfect song of a book about all the ways a heart can break and mend, Finding Yvonne will stay with you long past its final, bittersweet notes."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}Elana K. Arnold, author of National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of

"Colbert's excellent ear for dialogue is on display in her latest, and she does a fantastic job of capturing the particular anxieties of a highly intelligent, talented teen at a crossroads, as well as the weight of microaggressions about everything from race to sexuality to economic status."—Booklist

"Colbert delivers another emotionally layered story."—Publishers Weekly

"Readers will be able to relate to the challenges faced by the diverse and realistic characters that Colbert has created."—School Library Connection

"[Yvonne's] a compelling protagonist, and she'll speak to readers thrown by the lack of certainty in their own futures."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Praise for Little & Lion:"Little and Lion is beautifully insightful, honest, and compassionate. Brandy's ability to find larger meaning in small moments is nothing short of dazzling."—National Book Award Finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything Everything, Nicola Yoon

"Brandy Colbert further establishes herself as one of contemporary YA's biggest talents in this thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of identity, loyalty, and what it means to live with integrity. Little & Lion is a stunningly good novel."—Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

"Brandy Colbert takes us on an emotional and gorgeous journey with a protagonist who is trying to figure out where she fits in with her family as well as in the world. A book full of overwhelming love and courage."—Sara Farizan, author of Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel

* "This superbly written novel teems with meaningful depth, which is perfectly balanced by romance and the languorous freedom of summer."—Booklist, starred review