Publishers Weekly
While working her usual shift at the Burrito Barn, Cherry Kerrigan rescues a choking customer, an A-list movie star who is in town to shoot a film. Ardelia Deen is so grateful that she gives Cherry her Alfa Romeo, and so impressed by Cherry’s unvarnished perspective that she makes her a paid consultant; Cherry will help vet potential surrogates to carry the baby the actress desperately wants. Cherry, who is at ease in grimy sweats, comes to realize many things, including the importance of appearance. The candidates “chatted on... while their outfits whispered subliminal messages: I’m reliable. I’m spiritual. I’m relaxed. I don’t care what you think.” Author/literary agent Cusick (Girl Parts) gives Cherry a sarcastic and often profane voice. The supporting cast—Cherry’s blue-collar father, her chill boyfriend, and Ardelia’s caustic manager—round out a plot that continually surprises. Cherry is a highly memorable character, prone to violent outbursts but possessing a strong moral compass, a rare smalltown girl who isn’t consumed by anxiety over getting into college or out of town—even when she has the chance to dip her toe into the pool with some big-time celebrities. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
The supporting cast ... round out a plot that continually surprises. Cherry is a highly memorable character, prone to violent outbursts but possessing a strong moral compass, a rare smalltown girl who isn’t consumed by anxiety over getting into college or out of town—even when she has the chance to dip her toe into the pool with some big-time celebrities.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
There is plenty to like in this novel that maintains a mostly light tone while it riffs on weighty questions about class and the pressures of fame. ... Smart and often funny.
—Kirkus Reviews
Cherry is an irresistible heroine: she’s brimming with energy and joyful appreciation for the things that really matter, and she’s unafraid of speaking her mind, often in vulgar terms, or of suffering the consequences. ... Readers will be right there with her as she enjoys the perks of being a friend of the obscenely rich and famous while calculating the risks and benefits of each decision that would take her away from her core values. Her volitional poverty, lack of traditional ambitions, and immunity to the popularity game make her a rare bird indeed in contemporary YA, but it’s the aplomb she brings to the table that will attract readers of all classes.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Cherry Money Baby" represents new-adult fiction with a female protagonist tackling adult concerns like college and a career... Young adult and new adult readers will relate to Cherry’s evolving personality and life plan.
—VOYA
I’m going to warn you right now: I enjoyed John M. Cusick’s Cherry Money Baby so much that this column may very well morph into a list of Alice “Cherry” Kerrigan’s Finest Moments. I’ll try to rein myself in, but it’s not going to be easy. ... Cherry Money Baby celebrates the fact that not everyone wants exactly the same sort of life, and that one person’s life-altering disaster could well be another person’s life-altering joy.
—Kirkus Reviews Online
Cusick has created an unlikely role model in sassy Cherry and added generous amounts of humor to her story.
—School Library Journal
Though Cherry’s perspective, the reader is forced to consider the issues of class more honesty, without patronizing or moralizing. At the heart of this story is Cherry and Ardelia’s relationship, but what makes this a spectacular read is the skill with which Cusick builds suspense. It is rare to find a realistic fiction novel with such stellar characters, and even rarer to find one that leaves the reader so curious as to how the action will resolve and so satisfied when it finally does.
—TeenReads.com
School Library Journal - Audio
12/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—Cherry Kerrigan doesn't have a glamorous life, but she does have a happy one with a loving family, a supportive best friend, and a sweet, artistic boyfriend who lives in the trailer next door. She doesn't even mind her drudge-worthy job at the Burrito Barn until starlet Ardelia Dean walks into her world and turns it upside down. Narrator Sarah Elmaleh shines as feisty, quick-tempered, yet kind-hearted Cherry, keeping her voice at the lower end of the range and then heightening it when Cherry loses control of her temper. Throughout Gusick's story (Candlewick, 2013), Cherry is faced with a number of crossroads and Elmaleh uses volume, timbre, and pitch to voice the girl's emotions. She also handles the supporting characters well, and gives each a distinctive voice. Ardelia's and her manager's British accents are very convincing, though Elmaleh's voice for male superstar MaxWell is a tiny bit over the top. A funny and thoughtful tale that will give listeners quite a bit to think about.—Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI
School Library Journal
09/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—Foul-mouthed, short-tempered Cherry Kerrigan, 17, knows exactly what she wants from life. She's in love with the boy next door and plans to marry him as soon as she's through with high school. Her father has higher hopes for her; he wants her to go to college and rise above their trailer-park lifestyle. After her town's cola plant gets turned into a movie set, Cherry winds up performing the Heimlich maneuver on the star. Her father is completely supportive of the resulting unlikely friendship between his daughter and the British starlet. Ardelia Deen, raised amid the British aristocracy, finds Cherry's straightforward approach to life refreshing. She hires Cherry to help her in the search for a surrogate mother for her child. Cherry gets inevitably drawn into the lifestyle of the rich and famous and begins to question her own aspirations as Ardelia demands increasing amounts of her time. Things come to a head when Cherry's family loses everything after her weed-smoking brother, who is supposed to be in her care, accidentally burns down their trailer. Riddled with guilt, she considers Ardelia's offer of $250,000 to be the one to carry her child. At Ardelia's mansion in England, however, events force Cherry to rethink the direction her life is taking. Cusick has created an unlikely role model in sassy Cherry and added generous amounts of humor to her story. —Cary Frostick, Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA
Kirkus Reviews
A small-town girl is tempted by money and status in this intriguing, character-driven work. Defying the stereotype, proud, fiercely loyal Alice "Cherry" Kerrigan is perfectly fine being the one who doesn't get away. She's deeply in love with Lucas, her boyfriend and neighbor in the trailer park where she lives with her dad and stoner younger brother, and the two plan to marry once they graduate and stay in their hometown. However, when Cherry saves the life of choking movie star Ardelia Deen, it sets into motion a host of events that shake Cherry's faith in herself and her decisions. There is plenty to like in this novel that maintains a mostly light tone while it riffs on weighty questions about class and the pressures of fame. Not least of all is Cherry's incisive wit: "Hey! Fucking…Barney Fife! I'm talking to you!" she yells at a security guard who mistakenly thinks that Lucas is harassing her, presumably because he is black and she is white. But the already somewhat fantastical plot stretches even further when it turns out Ardelia is looking for a surrogate mother to have a baby for her, and eventually, suspending disbelief becomes too noticeable a chore. Smart and often funny but ultimately overly complicated. (Fiction. 14 & up)
