We selected this book to read over the Thanksgiving holiday. It seemed liked a good fit, with sweet potato in the title and food references throughout (including recipes at the end).

While everyone seem to enjoy the book, and a few readers even found themselves laughing out loud, others felt that the writing seemed juvenile and the humor forced.

Topics for book club discussion revolved around friendship, loyalty, and coming of age when you don't quite "fit the mold."

Our book club members have very diverse tastes, but this one was unanimously loved. The characters are so vivid. The peek inside America's past is so genuine. The humor was the icing on the cake. This one was hard to put down.

I know several people who absolutely love the author, but this just isn't for me. The characters are cartoonish (Minty Fresh? Seriously?) and the humor is juvenile. For a book club, it didn't offer much inspiration for discussion.

I know the author was trying to drive home just how gloomy the environment was, but it seemed that every sentence contained an adjective synonymous with "grey." I found this lack of creativity in the description very distracting, and ultimately, I could not get through the book.