Synopses & Reviews
Broke and knocked up, Mattie Wallace has got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags and nowhere to go. Try as she might, she really is turning into her late mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn't make.
When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she's never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around. Leaving the Florida Panhandle, she drives eight hundred miles to her mother's birthplace—the tiny town of Gandy, Oklahoma. There, she soon learns that her mother remains a local mystery—a happy, talented teenager who inexplicably skipped town thirty-five years ago with nothing but the clothes on her back. But the girl they describe bears little resemblance to the damaged woman Mattie knew, and before long it becomes clear that something terrible happened to her mother. The deeper Mattie digs for answers, the more precarious her situation becomes. Giving up, however, isn't an option. Uncovering what started her mother's downward spiral might be the only way to stop her own.
Review
“THE ART OF CRASH LANDING is full of heart and sass. Its about forgiveness, self-understanding, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. Readers will root for DeCarlos goofy, sharp-tongued heroine.... This is a sparkling, funny, and moving debut.” < b=""> Edan Lepucki, author of CALIFORNIA <>
Review
“I fell in love with Mattie, with all her sass, her snark, her bad ass ways. The best compliment I can give this talented new author? I wish I had written this novel. You nailed it, Melissa DeCarlo. And you deserve legions of very happy readers.” < b=""> Ellen Sussman, author of A WEDDING IN PROVENCE and FRENCH LESSONS <>
Review
“Mattie describes herself as a natural disaster, and she may on to something…Melissa DeCarlos storytelling is strong and sure, genuinely moving and genuinely funny. Like her unlikely heroine, shes a force to be reckoned with.” < b=""> Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN <>
Review
“Behind the smartass mouth of Mattie Wallace, our troubled protagonist, is a whole lot of heart, soul and humor…You wont stop reading THE ART OF CRASH LANDING until all the great mysteries of Matties messed-up life have been unravelled by the ever-wise Mattie herself.” < b=""> Jessica Anya Blau, author of THE WONDER BREAD SUMMER <>
Review
“A dazzling debut that truly soars, about figuring out the tug of the past, about family mysteries and the marvels of forgiveness, and all of it features a spunky heroine readers wont be able to stop falling in love with.” < b=""> Caroline Leavitt, < i=""> New York Times <> bestselling author of IS THIS TOMORROW and PICTURES OF YOU <>
Review
“Matties voice is fresh, her penchant for off-color language balanced with a revealing earnestness and vulnerability. Gandys other residents are vibrant and well-developed…DeCarlos debut is confident and accomplished, filled with heart and humor.” < b=""> Kirkus <>
Review
“DeCarlo manages to make her heroine endearing despite her many flaws: she creates clever private jokes with the reader and slips in the occasional heartbreaking memory between brash shows of pushiness...DeCarlos writing bristles with Matties vibrant personality...a triumphant first novel.” < b=""> Publishers Weekly <>
Review
“DeCarlo deftly weaves in flashbacks about Matties childhood and creates a cast of wonderfully full-blooded, fallible characters…Best of all is Mattie herself, who has cultivated a measure of humanity in addition to impressive survival skills and whose briskly told story is instantly involving. An impressive debut.” < b=""> Booklist <>