Book Review: Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

When I’m reviewing books for professional publications, I stay quiet about them on social media. I’m always really excited once a review comes out to be able to talk about the book, finally! Here’s one of my most recent reviews, which originally appeared in the January 2017 issue of School Library Journal.

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon. ISBN-13: 9781419723681. Publisher: Amulet Books. Publication date: 03/07/2017.

Gr 9 Up—Tourmaline Harris is an honor roll student whose mother is in jail and whose father is president of the Wardens of Iron Gate motorcycle club. Virginia Campbell, her classmate, has experienced abuse and addiction at home and has spent years hustling drugs and doing other illegal work for Hazard, a crooked lawyer. When Hazard instructs Virginia to infiltrate the Wardens in order to help him bring the club down, the girls form a surprising and complicated friendship. Before long, they are dealing with the tight-knit bikers and suspicious detectives, sorting out truth from lies, and figuring out the ways their lives have been tied together. Neither is quick to trust, but they’re aware that girls are better off if they stick together, and they work as a team to make plans and plot revenge. The risks they take extend to the complex choices that they make in romance and beyond. This gritty story is told through strikingly beautiful writing, and the Southern setting (West Virginia and Virginia) leaps off the page. While the plot is a bit slow to start, the pace picks up, and the narrative is filled with unpredictable turns. The unique premise—girls who have seen far more than their 18 years would suggest, embedded in a biker gang, surrounded by drugs, corruption, and lies—makes for a wild, enthralling journey. VERDICT Recommended for general purchase, this title will appeal broadly to readers who like realistic fiction with a hard edge.

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