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Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee

Jeff Zentner

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Apr 04, 2019 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library, contemporary, youngadult

Utterly fantastic, with the perfect mix of humor and pathos. I laughed out loud on nearly every page at the dialogue, and yet found myself ugly crying over the ending (in a good way). Zentner has drawn a beautiful picture of friendship, family, and how hard growing up can be. I loved how he found the perfect balance between Something Fresh (girls with a cable access horror movie show, a teen MMA fighter) and Familiar & Relatable (mental health struggles, broken families). You've never seen anyth ...more

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Jan 01, 2019 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned

“Sometimes small and unspectacular things can be a universe.”

For most of high school best friends Delia and and Josie have spent every Friday night transforming themselves into Delilah Darkwood and Rayne Ravenscroft, hosts of Midnite Matinee their public access show on TV Six where they show a campy B (or C) horror movie with their own shorts in between.

The movies are never good and Delia and Josie's segments aren't much better, but it's their show that they built up from scratch which counts fo “Sometimes small and unspectacular things can be a universe.”

For most of high school best friends Delia and and Josie have spent every Friday night transforming themselves into Delilah Darkwood and Rayne Ravenscroft, hosts of Midnite Matinee their public access show on TV Six where they show a campy B (or C) horror movie with their own shorts in between.

The movies are never good and Delia and Josie's segments aren't much better, but it's their show that they built up from scratch which counts for a lot. Even if it isn't enough to ensure the show will continue now that high school is ending.

Josie is eager to pursue her lifelong dream of being on television when she goes to college but isn’t sure what to do when her dreams might be leading her away from her hometown and her best friend.

Delia, meanwhile, is desperate to find a way to help Midnite Matinee grow beyond its current syndication so that Josie can pursue her dream without leaving Delia behind the way her father did.

With one last summer to make it big or call it quits, Delia and Josie's friendship and their show will be tested as they confront old hurts, embrace new dreams, and take one epic road trip to a horror convention with the potential to change everything in Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee (2019) by Jeff Zentner.

Zentner's latest standalone contemporary is a funny, strange story that explores all of the things that brought Josie and Delia together and all of the things that are starting to pull them in different directions.

Josie and Delia alternate first person narration in this story and by the end of the novel both girls completely won me over. Although Delia and Josie are facing some big decisions, they do it all with levity and obvious affection for each other as well as the other important people in their lives.

Zentner has filled this book with Easter eggs from his earlier novels as well as some amazing jokes--I can’t reveal too much but let’s just say I’m still cracking up about the baby Basset Hounds.

Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee is a story about big dreams, big chances, and the mediocre results we sometimes end up with as a result. Josie and Delia are hilarious, endearing, and some of my favorite characters to date. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo, The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo, The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke, How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford, Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood ...more

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Mar 18, 2019 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: realistic, age-ya, tearjerkers, 2019

Josie and Delia, aka Rayne and Delilah, have been hosting their public-access horror show Midnite Matinee for two years now, but things are soon to change, because Josie is considering going away to college to pursue a career in television. Delia hates the idea of Josie leaving, after her Dad left years ago. When Delia hears from a private investigator that he may have found her father, Delia tries to decide whether or not to go find him - and when a horror convention comes up near where he live ...more

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Dec 06, 2019 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: old-reads, mt-bookpile-2016-2020

The late night horror movie world and the hosts of the tv shows that showcase them are no cheesier than the one that Rayne and Delilah have created in their show, but their motivations might be different from those of Svengoolie or the Crypt Keeper. Rayne wants to work in television, and Delilah hopes that her long-gone father sees the increasingly syndicated show and wants to reconnect. There's a cute romance, friendship and a really creepy producer to contend with, and an ending that may surpr ...more

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