I loved reading Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma. It is the best book I have read in a while and is definitely one of my new favorites. The book is about Danielle (Dani), a thirteen year old girl who is trying to come to terms with the fact that her mom and dad are divorced and her dad is getting remarried. Her best friend just moved away and her brother is at soccer camp, so she spends a lot of time waiting for one of them to call.
When she isn't sitting on her roof trying to get cell phone coverage, or tailing a "suspect", she is at the local movie theatre, The Little Art, watching classic black-and-white films. Because of this, even though Dani's life seems pretty run of the mill, she narrates most of her story like she is in a film noir, which makes for some hilarious commentary. "And her smile, always with that sweet smile, like nothing could ever bring her down. She's really killing my noir mood. "Dani!" she says, all bubbly. "Want a sundae? On the house!"...Any other day, I'd take the freaking sundae, but this isn't any other day. My world is crashing down around me! Not even ice cream will save me now! Do you hear me, people? This is serious." It is refreshing that while Dani likes to imagine she is a noir detective or Rita Hayworth, she knows she is really only a teenager living in a podunk town.
Even though the The Little Art only has one movie screen, I like the idea of it. It's vintage, with a movie reel and red velvet ropes. The films shown are older, like 1940's older, with stars like Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Ingrid Bergman. They have self serve popcorn with a variety of toppings, salt, butter, cinnamon, hot-pepper flakes, coconut flakes, brown sugar, cocoa powder and parmesan cheese. If Matt and I ever opened a movie theatre, I could see us doing something like that. Except I would probably add a counter that served custom drinks, like italian sodas and hot cocoa. Maybe even some baked goods like lemon scones and almond filled croissants. All those buttery flakes would be really hard to clean up afterwards. Maybe I should just open a cafe. Or a book store.
When she isn't sitting on her roof trying to get cell phone coverage, or tailing a "suspect", she is at the local movie theatre, The Little Art, watching classic black-and-white films. Because of this, even though Dani's life seems pretty run of the mill, she narrates most of her story like she is in a film noir, which makes for some hilarious commentary. "And her smile, always with that sweet smile, like nothing could ever bring her down. She's really killing my noir mood. "Dani!" she says, all bubbly. "Want a sundae? On the house!"...Any other day, I'd take the freaking sundae, but this isn't any other day. My world is crashing down around me! Not even ice cream will save me now! Do you hear me, people? This is serious." It is refreshing that while Dani likes to imagine she is a noir detective or Rita Hayworth, she knows she is really only a teenager living in a podunk town.
Even though the The Little Art only has one movie screen, I like the idea of it. It's vintage, with a movie reel and red velvet ropes. The films shown are older, like 1940's older, with stars like Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, and Ingrid Bergman. They have self serve popcorn with a variety of toppings, salt, butter, cinnamon, hot-pepper flakes, coconut flakes, brown sugar, cocoa powder and parmesan cheese. If Matt and I ever opened a movie theatre, I could see us doing something like that. Except I would probably add a counter that served custom drinks, like italian sodas and hot cocoa. Maybe even some baked goods like lemon scones and almond filled croissants. All those buttery flakes would be really hard to clean up afterwards. Maybe I should just open a cafe. Or a book store.
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