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Debbie Boucher is a teacher at the International School of Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. She is bilingual and has also taught at American schools in Colombia, Argentina, and Bolivia as well as the public schools in Mammoth Lakes, California. She makes her home in the Sierra Nevada mountains because she loves to ski and hike. She is married and has two grown daughters and two granddaughters. She has written two other novels. Back to Normal won Honorable Mention in the romance category from ForeWord Magazine's 2010 Book of the Year contest. Oblivia was a finalist in the mystery category for ForeWord Magazine's 2013 Book of the Year contest. Visit her website at www.debbieboucher.com and at Outskirts Press, or her page on Facebook.
Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite
It is California in 1993, and Jazmin Valdez and Stephannie Bengochea are best friends. Both were born on March 15, 1975, which makes them astrological twins according to Jaz’s mom, an amateur astrologer. Steph is not so sure, but she doesn’t care. She just knows that she enjoys being part of a trio that includes Jaz's boyfriend Pedro. Jaz's parents are Mexicans who live and work in California. Steph's father is of Basque descent, and his family has been herding sheep in the Sierra Nevada mountains for generations. The book opens with Jaz going off to the University of San Francisco while Steph attends the University of California at San Diego. Things are going well until both girls become pregnant the night of their twentieth birthday, Steph by surfer Corey Carlson, and Jaz by rich boy Marty Donahue. Steph aborts her pregnancy while Jaz marries Marty and has a daughter named Maria, even though Marty’s family is not happy about the marriage. Steph returns home to the mountains to help run her family’s restaurant while Jaz stays in San Francisco where she meets Rosa Rodriquez who helps care for Jaz's baby. Jaz’s life (and Steph’s) take some unusual turns when Jaz becomes an astrologer and creates a website that gives out financial advice as the new millennium approaches.
Millennial Fears is the coming of age story of Jaz and Steph, the astrological twins who share the same birth date right down to the minute, but come from different cultural backgrounds. The reader follows their lives as Jaz and Steph journey toward adulthood while moving in and out of love and marriage. All the characters, both major and minor, are colorfully rendered and totally believable. The prejudice against people of Mexican heritage is touched upon throughout the story but its message is subtly and gently delivered. The plot winds through twists and turns in a light-hearted way, which is why Millennial Fears is a first-rate book for readers everywhere.
