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jennms_qkw's review
4.0
Recommended at Millcreek for "Utah author" - set in the Bay Area (San Francisco and Pacifica). Hmmmm.
YA story about remarriage parents and teens and new schools.
YA story about remarriage parents and teens and new schools.
kalynwebb's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
panda_incognito's review
4.0
This middle grade novel focuses on a girl who is coping with loss after her mother divorces her alcoholic father and prepares to marry someone else. The book engages with common emotional struggles related to moving, entering a blended family, and grieving a still-living but absent father. The book addresses alcoholism in an incredibly honest, realistic, and moving way. The story drags a lot in the second half, but I am giving the book four stars for the sense of emotional truth that it conveys in all of the ups and downs of the main character's experience.
I also appreciated the religious elements of the book, since it is very rare for contemporary realistic fiction to include characters who experience God and church as central pars of their lives. I wish that the book had resolved some of the spiritual questions that it brought up, since there are good answers for them, but this book can be especially helpful for kids who share the character's church background.
I also appreciated the religious elements of the book, since it is very rare for contemporary realistic fiction to include characters who experience God and church as central pars of their lives. I wish that the book had resolved some of the spiritual questions that it brought up, since there are good answers for them, but this book can be especially helpful for kids who share the character's church background.
stenaros's review
5.0
If Lou's mother's life was a book, it would be a romance novel, and if that were the case, this book would pick up just as Lou's mom got her Happily Ever After. Lou's mom has a new husband and Lou has a new stepfather, a new school, and a new house. She's been shaped by the years her alcoholic father was around and she's being shaped by the fact that he's not around anymore.
More so with most books, I felt every bit of Lou's feelings. Where they came from, where they lived in her, how long they lingered. This is a long book for a middle grade book, and one I I think adults shouldn't pass by.
More so with most books, I felt every bit of Lou's feelings. Where they came from, where they lived in her, how long they lingered. This is a long book for a middle grade book, and one I I think adults shouldn't pass by.
amarue's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lisabunag's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mlettus's review
2.0
I have loved Sara Zarr since I was a teenager, but this his book was not my favorite. There’s a lot that’s left unresolved. Lou never really faces any consequences of her actions. The pacing was weird, too. The beginning seemed to span a long time and then the book started moving quickly through time. There was a lot of good stuff, but I think author was trying to put too much into one book.
leahbrarian's review against another edition
3.75
A really deft, lovely handling of multiple different, significant issues through the eyes of a narrator whose flaws don't outweigh her clear and sensitive perspective. Lu's relationship with her father and her feelings about her family's financial circumstances are particularly well-portrayed and complex, and the pacing of Lu's growing relationship with Steve was perfect. I did feel as if the plotlines about Lu's stealing, her feelings about God/religion, and her friendships both with Beth and Kyra might have been emotionally clearer, but there is an element of realism to the muddled feelings and tapering momentum that felt true as well. A perfect book for readers whose own lives include alcoholism, new family structure, financial struggles, or big changes, or anyone who's looking for a story that is both hard and hopeful.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.
sandiereads's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this MG debut by Sara Zarr. One of my favorite MG titles of the year.