Malt Shop Milestones: Book 1
Publication Date: December 12, 2024
Young lives. First loves. And a classic American period enlivened by jukeboxes and chocolate malts.
Vicky, a bookish sixteen-year-old, wouldn’t call herself popular. But around her thriving Black community of West Hill, and especially at school, she’s pretty well-known: as “The Brain of West Hill High.” In addition to keeping her grades up this year, she’s looking to make an impact writing for the school newspaper. A step toward her goal of becoming a journalist one day.
On a different note, Vicky is ready to get a new, real taste of romance. She dreams of spending time with an interesting guy who’ll be a match for her head as well as her heart. A guy who’ll applaud her career ambitions.
But finding someone like that might be too much to hope for in high school. Maybe?
Enjoy this nostalgic nod to the bygone era of “malt shop” books-from an angle featuring more of America’s color.
Nadine C. Keels has created a series in a genre she has always enjoyed: Malt Shop Fiction. Vicky’s Victory is the first in the string of novels she hopes to set around this historical time with the same fictional characters and setting.
Vicky’s Victory is categorized as Young Adult, yet as an adult reader, it was a quick Saturday read that filled me with nostalgic longing. Once I finished the story, the author’s notes that followed were where it got seriously interesting! Keels noted the absence of Black characters in traditional Malt Shop fiction and gave an honest assessment of the lack of representation of the lives and dreams of Black Americans. I would love to see this section leading the publication.
West Hill, nicknamed The Black Diamond District, is a community of families and friends. Vicky is a high schooler who follows the norms of the times in how she interacts with guys who catch her eye. Not only does Willie catch her eye, but he literally catches her as she stumbles into Bro Brown’s malt shop and fumbles for change for the jukebox. Bro Brown’s is the high school hangout, so this mishap is seen by Vicky’s friends and classmates. The scene is set for romance.
The story is filled with football, group projects, and decisions about Homecoming, all typical topics for high school drama. However, Vicky pushes the boundaries set for women as World War II ends. She begins writing for her school newspaper and accepts the seemingly frivolous assignment of writing lifestyle and society articles. However, Vicky senses the importance of how she sees her community and the contributions of many and wants to highlight this. Vicky finds a way to begin her path of becoming a female journalist—an unrealistic goal at this time for women.
Nadine C. Keels infuses the retro genre of Malt Shop fiction with a long-overdue representation of the well-lived lives of Black Americans in the late 1940s, with Vicky’s Victory being the inaugural novel for the Malt Shop Milestones series. 
Nadine. A French name, meaning, “hope.”
