This is a must read by Jessica Vitalis and is for middle grade readers and adults alike! Vitalis thoughtfully and carefully tells the story of Cayenne and her family, focusing on Cayenne's struggles with being unhoused and with parents who prefer life on the road. When Cayenne starts school for the first time in years, she begins to make friends and likes being settled in one place. Will she be able to convince her parents that stability is ok for the family as a whole? Very well done middle grade novel in verse!

What a beautiful, compelling novel in verse! I think that every middle schooler feels at least a degree of stress in juggling social life. In Unsinkable Cayenne there are so many instances in this, not only for Cayenne, but also for others she interacts with. In addition to moving themes of friendship and self-discovery, there are additional captivating themes like class systems beyond the doors middle school. With it written in verse, Unsinkable Cayenne, is a quick read that kids and adults will love!

This historical fiction verse novel follows Cayenne as she lives in a house instead of a van for the first time. While her dad struggles to make his new job work, Cayenne reaches out for friendship, learning to navigate longer term relationships with kids outside her home. This was a fascinating look at the late 80s. And I loved how her Titanic school project brought more nuance to how she viewed herself and her world. Jessica Vitalis is a talented author, and I've loved her fantasy, so it was a joy to read this historical fiction verse novel and see that same brilliance brought to her poetry.

✨Book Review✨
🌶️ Unsinkable Cayenne 🌶️

Synopsis:
This is a historical novel-in-verse about a 12-year-old girl and her family who trade in living in their van and attempt to settle down in a small Montana town.

My thoughts:
🤔 It’s a no for my K-5 libraries. The very first poem in this novel-in-verse Cayenne tells about her dad smoking a joint in front of her. Marijuana smoking comes up again several times. While marijuana is legal in some states now, it wasn’t legal when this book takes place in the 1980’s. There are also references to Cayenne’s mom not wearing a bra. It also talked about butt-pinching and bra-snapping in middle school.
🤔 It is not a bad story, and, sadly, I’m sure some young readers can relate to some of the things that Cayenne goes through, but I just don’t agree with the age recommendation of 8-12 years old. I can’t imagine having conversations with an 8-year-old about a lot of the content of this book.
🤔 Cayenne is resilient and I think readers will like her and how she relates what is going on in her life to the Titanic sinking. I also think readers will enjoy picking up a few things that were popular in the 80’s.
🤔OVERALL: Good historical coming-of-age novel-in-verse for ages 13+.

📢This one released October 29, 2024!

🥰Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books and @NetGalley for this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for my review copy. I loved this! What a lovely middle grade story with realistic characters that readers young and old could certainly learn something from. Loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 3.5/5 stars.

This is a quick middle grade verse novel set in the 1980s about Cayenne. Her family lives a van/nomadic lifestyle until they settle down for a bit in a town. Cayenne, for the first time in her life, experiences "normal" life and the realities of being poor. This, along with feeling like she's ignored in her life from her parents because of her baby twin siblings, creates the plot for the novel.

While I enjoyed the easy verse, a lot of the plot was meh? Like, I can see the appeal for middle grade, but I also don't know why a whole lot was added in to the plot. Many of the characters felt very flat, including Cayenne herself. There is value in this book to demonstrate social class differences and how it influences schools, but it also was just....meh? for lack of a better term.

What a lovely novel in verse about what it means to feel stable, how poor kids feel in the face of money around them, and the desire to fit in.

Unsinkable Cayenne is a heartfelt novel-in-verse.

Author Jessica Vitalis’ decision to set the story in mid-1980s is perfect. Not only does it take a lot of technology out of the equation, but studying the Titanic allows for discussion about different classes. It’s not hard to see the parallels between the early 1900s first-, second-, and third-class passengers on the Titanic and that of the ’80s kids in Cayenne’s class.

Cayenne comes to life through Vitalis’ deft hands. Her hopes, dreams, fears, wishes are all there. And when it comes to the overall arc of her story, Vitalis doesn’t tie everything in a neat bow. Not everything is perfect. Change is a constant. And that’s something readers can relate to.

Unsinkable Cayenne is the type of book parents will enjoy alongside their kids. And grownups may just learn a thing or two in the process.

I really liked this middle grade novel-in-verse about a family who parks their camper van in search of a more "stable" life in a Montana town. I loved Cayenne's voice as she shares her struggles with fitting in, and I thought the connection with the finding of the Titanic was well done! (I'm a bit younger than Cayenne, so I didn't realize that it happened in my lifetime.)

Set on 1985 Montana, Unsinkable Cayenne is a 12-year-old girl just entering 7th grade. Cayenne (she was named after the spice) has never lived anywhere except the van her parents use to drift from place to place. It’s a life that brings the family closer but is so much different from other families.

After her twin siblings are born the parents decide to settle down and rent a small house. Cayenne likes the idea of fitting in and maybe getting some friends her age. But it’s not easy.

Her social studies teacher has them learning about the Titanic disaster and Cayenne sees parallels to her own life, especially with the lowly third class passengers. Will she ever be accepted by the rich girls or the rich boy she secretly likes? She wonders and worries what normal is really like.

The writing flows smoothly and readers will bond with Cayenne. Novels in verse are not my preferred way of story telling, but in this case it was a good choice. I finished it a a few hours wrapped up in Cayenne’s world. A great starting point for discussion that also makes UNSINKABLE CAYENNE perfect for middle grade readers.

This is the first book by Jessica Vitalis that I’ve ever read, though Coyote Queen is already on my reading list! I saw nothing but high praise for that one and added it to my reading list immediately. If I wasn’t planning to read it before, I would definitely be planning to now.

I love novels in verse because it gives an author a chance to tell a story in which each word really counts. Delivering rich characters and vivid settings in just a few words takes really precise writing, and I can’t help but appreciate when it’s done well– as in this book.

Cayenne lives an unapologetically unconventional lifestyle. While she longs for the stability of a more permanent home and school experience, she understands how much her parents value the life they’ve crafted. She relates her experiences sans outside judgment. This is simply how her life is.

At school, her history teacher introduces a unit of study on the Titanic, which allows Cayenne and her classmates to think about the impact of classism through a really specific situation in which someone’s class dramatically impacted their likelihood of survival. Cayenne relates to the prejudice and classism described in the disaster as she tries to navigate relationships with kids whose families have fancier houses and clothes than hers.

It’s a thoughtful story filled with metaphors about birds and emotive descriptions of middle school moments that will still resonate today. I could see readers of Starfish or other thought-provoking novels in verse really enjoying this one.

4.5 stars to Vitalis for this engaging verse novel about Cayenne, a new 7th grader who just wants to fit in at school after leaving a nomadic life to settle with her family in a small Montana town in 1985. Cayenne's family is poor and her parents (including her pot-smoking dad) are hippies, but she wants to be like the rich popular kids when she starts a new school. She has a crush on the new boy and tries to navigate friendships, but her family is dealing with a lot with as low as their income is. When her history teacher shares the statistics on the survival rates of the first-, second-, and third-class passengers on the Titanic, Cayenne starts to feel like a third-class passenger floundering in a first-class world. She's a believable middle schooler that readers will identify with and cheer for.

My students love verse novels, and I will probably add this to my shelves, but as a teacher in a Christian school, there may be a couple of concerns for others with a similar population: (1) a minor character at the end is referenced as having two moms, and (2) the author's note places Darwinism over creation theory in trying to settle the chicken vs. the egg debate. The fact that the dad's marijuana habit is illegal is handled appropriately, but the other two minor items keep it off my 5-star list for other teachers in Christian schools.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and Vitalis herself for this eARC, given only in exchange for my honest review.

This lyrical novel strongly evokes what it was like growing up in the 1980s while capturing the timeless themes so many kids struggle with in the middle school years: class, popularity, and fitting in versus standing out. Another triumph from Jessica Vitalis!

What an absolutely beautiful story! Jessica Vitalis makes the best use of the story-in-verse setup to allow her readers to lean into her descriptions of both setting and character feelings. In the chapters where Cayenne talks about how she feels inadequate, it's clear Vitalis (per her author's note) has allowed her authentic experiences shine through. Though they may have been difficult for the author to revisit, the reader will definitely benefit.

Slightly less successful is the tie to the Titanic. The book's blurb draws a comparison to _We Dream of Space_ by Erin Entrada Kelly, but in that book the Challenger explosion was crucial to Bird's personal story arc and the progression of the larger plot. Here, Cayenne's experiences as the newbie kid in her small town in Montana are incredibly grounded; the discovery of the Titanic feels tangential to her and her struggles. While Vitalis is a seasoned enough author to make the Titanic portions feel important to Cayenne, they don't feel absolutely necessary for her arc or for the plot to continue. The book reads the same and has the same outcome without the Titanic sections, which makes them, at times, feel extraneous.

Nevertheless, readers will absolutely benefit from this. It's lovely, heartwarming, and hopeful even with its unusual ending.

There was a lot to love about this book. The very real conflict of family life, the friends who you wish you had more time with, and the verse style…all of these I very much enjoyed. I appreciated too how the author handled the pot smoking dad with an honest look at how that affected the family.
Thank you, Net Gallery, for an ARC of this book!

This is one of the most beautiful novels in verse I've read this year. Cayenne's story is real, visceral, and epitomizes the sacrifices we all make to "fit in." Vitalis is not only adept at her use of word choice and structure, but also offers a clever glimpse into how kids interpret information unfamiliar to them (there's a particularly enjoyable section where Cayenne tries to figure out the acronym of "PTA"). By the end of the story, Cayenne is changed in ways even she didn't expect, and has a better idea of how she can organically integrate with the world around her. This is a guaranteed enjoyable read for all ages, and belongs on any and all library shelves. Highly recommended.

Unsinkable Cayenne is a beautiful novel written in verse that explores wealth inequality, first crushes, the challenges of making new friends, fitting in, and family. Other books by Jessica Vitalis that I've read and enjoyed include The Wolf's Curse, Coyote-Queen, and The Rabbit's Gift.

Having this set in 1985 brought back so many memories, it had all the vibes of this time period with references to the clothing, perms, pooling together your change to buy a new pair of shoes, and even secretly piercing your own ears. The crush on Beau was really sweet and I loved that Cayenne finally found a supportive circle of friends. The classroom discussions about the Titanic were interesting and really highlighted the stark differences in class systems or how where the passengers stayed on the ship correlated to differences in the number of fatalities that were reported. Cayenne's story will resonate with kids whose families are struggling financially and those kids who want to fit in at school. Readers will appreciate that the author utilized her own life experiences when writing the book and I sincerely hope for more books about Cayenne, as her story deeply moved me. *A huge thank you to Jessica Vitalis and her publisher for the E-ARC via NetGalley of Unsinkable Cayenne, in exchange for an honest review. *

This middle grade historical novel-in-verse follows 12-year-old Cayenne as she navigates a new town with her unconventional parents and a true desire to finally stay put and fit in.

Growing up is hard. Growing up with parents who love the earth and living on their own terms in their van is even harder. So when they finally decide to settle down in Montana and have a go at a more traditional life, Cayenne is begin.

But fitting in is harder than it looks. From new shoes and pierced ears to playing the flute and raising chickens, Cayenne is learning about herself as she tries to fit in with others and wonders if it’s really all that cracked up after all.

This lyrical novel tells Cayenne’s story alongside her parallel learning about the Titanic and the effect is powerful. I adored this book.

A great middle great novel written in verse. Cayenne and her hippie family have put aside their nomadic lifestyle to live in a smal town in Montana. Navigating middle school is hard enough, but for cayenne who’s lived a very unconventional life, finding friends and ignoring bullies makes it even harder. There is mention of drug use (marajuana) which may bring up questions with young readers so as a parent or teacher, just be aware. I’d recommend this to fans of Dan Gemeinhart Coyote Sunrise

This gorgeously-written verse novel touches upon universal themes of family, friendship, belonging and fitting in, staying true to yourself, and socioeconomic status differences. Cayenne changes thinking she needs and wants to fit in with the popular girls, but realizes who are her true friends who like her as she is and she changes her own perspective of her family's lifestyle and how there is happiness and love in living differently. I highly recommend this novel to all readers of any age!