Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

Pages: 334
Intended Audience: Teens
Genre: Real life
Notes for Parents: Mature themes

The Inside Cover

Leigh sells graves for the family-owned cemetery because her father is too lazy to look farther than the dinner table for employees. Working the literal graveyard shift, she meets two kinds of customers:
Pre-Need: They know what’s up. They bought their graves long ago, before they needed them.
At Need: They are in shock, mourning a loved one’s unexpected death. Leigh avoids sponging their agony by focusing on things like guessing the headstone choice (mostly granite).
Sarcastic and smart, Leigh should be able to stand up to her family—and quit. But her world’s been turned upside down by the sudden loss of her best friend and the appearance of Dario, the slightly-too-old-for-her grave digger. When she’s so surrounded by death, how can Leigh move and get a life.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the author’s first novel.

What’s good?

This is the story of a girl just trying to keep it together. Despite her angst and sadness, Leigh is an engaging and likeable main character. The quirky supporting characters are well-developed with personality traits that range from sympathetic to annoying to neglectful, but always retain authenticity. I liked the mystery of the grave, the interesting graveyard facts, and the eccentric family from Rivendell Nurseries.
Best Part: The tagline: “Home is where the bodies are buried.”

What isn’t good?

For the most part, the story is sad and slow moving. While Elanor is a beacon of hope, she’s pushed out of most of the story. Choppy writing will annoy some readers, but I thought it worked okay. I was disappointed that several things were left unanswered in the end.
Worst part: Elanor’s rant on page 196 is out of character (and I’m not a fan of fighting meanness with meanness).

Recommendation þþþoo

This book won’t appeal to everyone. While there’s a lot of stuff going on, not a lot actually happens. Also, the dark humor can be a bit of an acquired taste. The story is cynical, but smart. Recommended.

Longo, Jennifer. Six Feet Over It. New York: Random House, 2014. (Hardcover)