I was incredibly fortunate to meet Jeff Zentner last year when he came to San Antonio for LibraryPalooza, an event that takes place at one of the local high schools and focuses on authors of YA. Of course he was super cool, and really nice, and I am pretty sure he thought I was a high school student, but given the focus of the event, and that I look 12, that is forgivable. Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee is his third book, so it joins The Serpent King and Goodbye Days on my bookshelf. Now, if only we can get him to come back to San Antonio so he can sign this one too.The Situation: It is senior year for Josie and Delia, and they are busy as ever working on their public access TV show, Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee. Once a week the duo dresses up and puts on ghoulish makeup to screen old school scary movies, but not classics like The Shining or Psycho. We’re talking the kind that are terrible beyond terrible, with titles like Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things and Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory. It has been Josie’s dream to be on TV since she was little, and Delia grew up watching old scary movies with her dad, until he left. Every time a new episode goes up, Delia hopes and prays that her dad will see it, and eventually make his way back to her and her mom. At the very least, she hopes that Josie will stick around after graduation and continue to do the show with her. For once she would like for someone she loves to not leave her behind.
The Problem: While Josie loves doing the show with her best friend, she also knows there are a few different paths to take for a career in TV, and her parents have managed to set her up with an internship at Food Network, in Knoxville. This would mean leaving Delia to do the show alone, something Josie knows her best friend is absolutely not okay with. And if anxiety over Josie possibly deserting her was not bad enough, Delia has also maybe found her father, and how to get in contact with him. Enter a charming new guy who is clearly into Josie, and things get complicated quickly. One ill-fated road trip down to a convention in Florida later, and it looks like everything might fall apart, at least for Delia, and this includes the friendship.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult novel set in present day Jackson, Tennessee. With the chapters alternating between the two, Josie and Delia tell their story while coming from two very different places. Josie’s life is a picture of privilege when held up against Delia’s. While one has two parents with enough connections to score her an internship at Food Network, the other only has her mother who runs her side job as a psychic out of their double wide trailer. Josie also has the good grades and the big plans to go off to college in another city, maybe, if she can bear leaving Delia, who will be attending community college in Jackson, and who also is desperate not to lose her friend, or the show the two of them have worked so hard to create. The girls are so close and get along so well that they are often mistaken as sisters, and they certainly act like they are family. But Josie has dreams of her own that may not include old horror movies, while Delia’s dreams seem completely dependent on Josie.
My Verdict: This book is the full experience, and by that I mean it is funny while also having its sad moments; frustrating in parts while being joyously redeeming in others; and perplexing in certain places (one part in particular...you’ll know it when you see it), while making perfect and prescient points in others, especially near the end. In the beginning, I was decidedly not a fan of Josie, and Delia stressed me out. With the way she treats her younger sister, Josie makes me glad I only have a brother. And with others her own age, she can be condescending, arrogant, and ultimately, kind of a brat. While she is privileged and acts like it, Delia is desperate and acts like it. She has tied her future, even the possibility of getting her dad back in her life, on Josie staying in Jackson so they can continue to do the show and hopefully take it to the next level and make it their careers. With that said, they can be funny, especially when they are together. And they both grow and change enough by the end of the novel that I am willing to forgive previous transgressions. Anyone with a soft spot in their hearts for AV nerds, the awkwardness of public access TV, fateful road trips, or truly bad horror films, will enjoy this book. Also, there are callbacks to both The Serpent King and Goodbye Days.
Favorite Moment: My actual favorite moment includes a spoiler, so for the sake of the blog I will pick when Josie must shell out most of her savings to pay for an ill-fated dinner with a washed up Hollywood legend.
Favorite Character: Arliss, the guy who helps the girls put their show together at TV six, is incredibly grumpy and not at all delighted with his job. And yet, he does it, and he does it well. Not only that, but it is clear he does care about them, even if it is also clear that he would rather be doing anything else than screening terrible classic scary movies with two teenage girls.
Recommended Reading: Out of his two previous books, I prefer The Serpent King, but I will also recommend Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.
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