Sweet Judy Blue Eyes was born at Woodstock to a high hippie mother, Cassie. Cassie later becomes upset when her husband Kirk “sells out” and goes to school to become a lawyer, so she leaves Kirk and Judy when Judy is only 6-years old to live on a commune. Cassie pops in and out of Judy’s life as the years go on and as Judy grows up.

I really liked this. Have to admit this was a rare book that started stronger than it ended – at least for me. Overall, though, I’m going to keep it at the 4 star rating I was thinking throughout the first half of the book. I was a bit disappointed in some choices Judy made as a teenager. I did love the relationship between Judy and her dad, though. ( )

I loved this book and became really involved with the lives of the characters. Judy Webster was born at Woodstock to a flower child mother Cassie who is more interested in taking her child to anti war protests than enrolling her in kindergarten. And then Cassie leaves her husband and takes Judy off to a commune at a young age. Judy hates this life and misses her father. Her father on the other hand has settled down and completed a law degree and he files for a divorce from Cassie and gains custody of Judy and she lives with him. But Judy has to cope with her mother entering her life and then leaving again and upsetting the balance in the process. Just when Judy thinks that she can trust her she lets her down so much so that Judy is never sure if she wants to even see her. And much as Judy has a great father and loves him, and her grandparents, she just wants a mother like everyone else. Her mother on the other hand makes mistake after mistake - joins Jim Jones' church but fortunatley does not go to Guyana, gets married again and leaves that marriage and child, and ends up in India at an Ashram. Judy has to suffer the embarrassment of the things that her mother does when she is there, and has to make up stories to explain her to her friends. It takes her time to find her place and she makes her own mistakes along the way. When her father begins dating another woman Treva, this is another change that she finds hard to deal with and fights against as for so long she has had her father to herself and has not had to share him.. Judy must work what is family for her. Can she be a family with Treva and her father? and when her mother returns at the end of the book and seems to finally be trying to really get her life together what kind of a relationship can she have with her? this was a beautiful and moving book. A really great read. ( )

he Sometimes Daughter by Sherri Wood Emmons
Story is about a little girl, born at Woodstock and her parents
raised her close by her fathers parents. There were main events that
took place that even I recall that occurred and the mother, Cassie was
involved in directly. Cassie has done a lot of drugs and has lived
in communes and the girl lives mostly with her father when the mother
returns. The girl has had a hard life making friends and they also
ake fun of her mother as she does as well.
As time goes on she and her dad travel to CA to visit with Cassie and her
new husband and baby. Love the sightseeing parts as my family was going to
plan a trip to that area for Disneyland and know we know what to expect.
Book follows her through her first dating years.
Things move fast from then on: wedding, pregnancies, abortion, travel
drugs, etc all come to the forefront. Surprised at the ending but well
thought out for that period in time.
I received this book from The Kennsington Books in exchange for my honest review ( )

This review first appeared on my blog: http://www.knittingandsundries.com/2012/08/the-sometimes-daughter-by-sherri-wood...

This was a quick, sometimes enjoyable read. The title more aptly could have read "The Sometimes Mother", as the main character is fortunate enough to have a wonderfully present father.

Sweet Judy Blue Eyes is born in a tent at Woodstock to unconventional (read "hippie") parents Cassie and Kirk. As familial responsibilities begin to hit, Kirk becomes a good, responsible father, while Cassie remains volatile, possibly unfaithful, and flighty, disappearing and re-appearing throughout the novel.

Emmons does a good job of portraying the link between a mother's behavior and her daughter's mistakes, as Judy tries her best to fit in with the girls at her school and to live a normal life.

I felt that the story was rather erratic, and moved too quickly in certain parts. It seemed to lack the sort of depth I'd associate with the weighty subject matter, and I had to check to see whether or not it was supposed to be YA rather than adult (in the former case, I'd give the lack of depth a pass, but it is labeled adult fiction.

If you're looking for a rather effortless read, this one would be a good pick.

QUOTES

I nodded mutely. I had seen Barbie dolls on the television, although I'd never actually held one. Mama said they were fascist and paternalistic, designed to turn women into objects. But I thought it better not to mention what Mama thought of Barvie just then. For the first time in my life, I told a lie.
"Sure," I said. "I like Barbies."
And that was how I got my first friends.

I wanted a real mother who stayed and who wasn't crazy and who took care of me, instead of me taking care of her.

I didn't tell the truth, which was that my mother had been crazy and kidnapped me and taken me to a commune and almost died of a drug overdose and then joined a cult.

Writing: 3 out of 5 stars
Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Characters: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Reading Immersion: 3 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING: 3 out of 5 stars ( )

i really loved this book. i finished it in a day. It really shows how a mothers choices and relationship with her daughter can really affect her in the long run. you really don't like her mom at times but then again you can't help but remember that everyone makes mistakes and have problems they have to deal with. i would definitely recommend it.