That Awkward Summer

Published: April 22nd, 2014

The Battle of Darcy Lane

By: Tara Altebrando

Running Press Kids

ISBN-13:  9780762449484

It is summertime, and twelve-year-old Julia Richards cannot stand the anticipation.  Everyone on Darcy Lane seems to be holding their breath waiting for the cicadas to emerge, but what Julia and her best friend, Taylor, want is some real excitement.  Which arrives in the form of a new neighbor named Alyssa, who introduces a ball game named Russia...and an unwelcome level of BFF rivalry.

Suddenly nothing stands unchallenged - not Julia's friendships, her crush, or her independence.  But while Julia realizes that she cannot control all the changes in her life, she hangs onto the hope that everything will go in her favor if she can just win one magnificent showdown.

Review

     I have really enjoyed reading Tara Altebrando's past young adult books, and was unsure how I would feel about her new middle grade effort.  But I was really excited to be contacted by the publisher about reviewing it, and decided to give it a shot.  This book definitely took me back to being twelve years old, when you're in between a teenager and kid, and the hardest thing to know is exactly where you fit in.  Julia has an especially hard time of things, when her best friend Taylor starts to drift away after the new girl Alyssa moves into the neighborhood.  Alyssa is everything that Julia isn't - pretty, confident, sophisticated.  Another thing she happens to be is mean, and she is slowly stealing away Julia's best friend.   But is it worth it to try and keep friends who treat you like dirt?  What exactly makes a friend?  And how far should you go to prove yourself to other people?

     I definitely sympathized with Julia, having spent a good chunk of my childhood being in a sometimes mean-girl level of friendship, stuck between two other girls.  The difference though, was that in my experience it was a school friendship, with some outer level contact.  It wasn't being stuck in the same neighborhood 24/7, with no escape from the backstabbing, silent treatment and just plain cruel tactics of the other girls.  I get the awkwardness of feeling left out, like you're not as good as someone else and questioning whether it's somehow your fault or not.  Julia was definitely a realistic main character.  And the moments she has with Alyssa AND Taylor, that tell the reader that they aren't downright evil, just confused and complex young girls, are wonderful too.  Nobody is really villainous, just human and flawed.  

     Nothing really big, or epic in the grand scheme of things happens plot-wise.  It's mainly like Altebrando states in the author notes, a quiet book.  The kind of book you used to read as a kid all the time, like something Judy Blume would write.  It's about the everyday realities of growing up, and the realizations we all have to face while doing it.  Probably the biggest theme of this book is realizing who your real friends are.  There is a truly sweet side-friendship with Peter, the boy next door, who Julia sneak a forbidden TV show with and has an innocent crush on.  There are a couple tense moments and misunderstandings, and I love when Peter confronts Julia, telling her he thought they had a couple years before she let the boy-crazy, mean-girl drama suck her in.  Julia also has some potential best friends, some who she loves (cool Laney from band camp) and Wendy (her elementary school friend she's passive-aggressively under appreciating and trying to dump).  

     The adults in this book, or at least Julia's parents, are truly the best portrayl I've seen in just about forever in a book so close to YA classification!  They aren't absent, but aren't overbearing.  You can tell they love Julia, and they're trying to do their best.  The book also shows Julia realizing that she needs to remember that her Mom has feelings, dreams, and problems  too - something you don't start to realize or appreciate until you're passing out of childhood.  I did feel like the moment near the end when they get over-invested in Julia's Russia showdown with Alyssa was kind of out of place.  But at the same time it made sense, with her Mom's efforts above and beyond to understand Julia.  The whole ball game, Russia, of which I had never heard was interesting and the idea of a showdown brought back memories.  Overall, I truly enjoyed this book.  Its the kind of book there need to be more of in today's market - a book that is a realistic experience of the transition from childhood to the teenaged years.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a book that doesn't feel the need to be hip to be good.  Anyone who longs for simpler days, this is for you!

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received a print ARC of this book from a representative at Running Kids Press.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on  April 22nd, 2014.*

You've Got Mail

Expected Publication:  December 24th, 2013

Roomies

By: Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13:  9780316217491

It's time to meet your new roomie.

When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge.  That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex.  With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by the change, it suddenly seems the only people that Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives...and each other.  Even though they've never met.

Review

     Elizabeth (called EB by her friends) is really excited to finally be leaving for college in just a couple short months.  So when she gets her roommate assignment, EB shoots of an e-mail to figure out who's bringing what.  Lauren on the other hand is less than thrilled with having a roommate, as she had originally requested a single.  Coming from a home with five younger brothers and sisters, all Lauren wants is to go to Berkeley and get some peace, quiet and freedom.  When EB contacts her Lauren is busy working, being babysitter to her siblings and trying to keep her friendships afloat even though she doesn't have time to be involved with all the technology her friends use as a lifeline - especially her best friend Zoe.  At first the girls get off on the wrong foot, but when they really start responding to each other both EB and Lauren come to rely on one another as sounding boards - and friends.  With complicated guy and family situations can EB and Lauren make the right decisions and manage to become the people they need to be?

     I really enjoyed reading this book!  I went into it expecting it to be a pretty good read, but braced for disappointment.  It takes a really great writer to work with a partner and not come up with a mediocre book.  It's all about the flow and style of the narrative being smooth, while still having distinctive characters, etc. so that not everything sounds exactly the same.  EB is an only child who lives with her Mom, after her Dad walked out on them when she was five.  Turns out he was gay and didn't want to pretend anymore.  Not that her Mom is perfect either, having affairs with married men and always being gone from the apartment.  Everything is changing with E.B.'s friends too, who are all staying close by for college.  She breaks up with her boyfriend who is pressuring her for sex, only to find herself attracted to a landscaping client's son.  Lauren is the opposite, trying to figure out her romantic feelings for her co-worker Keyon, searching Goodwill for antiques they can flip, babysitting her five siblings and working for money she's going to need at college.  I could appreciate EB's inability to admit how she felt, her mixed feelings towards her Mom (who she loves, even if she is distant and doing the morally wrong thing more often than not).  I identified with Lauren's struggle to separate her identity from her place in the family.  Both girls were written extremely real.

     That old saying that it's easier to talk to a stranger is really well demonstrated in this book.  Neither girl really knows how to connect at first, but they can't talk about their problems with anyone else.  So they unload on each other.  But both of them are conflicted about becoming friends that way, before they've ever even met each other.  They still kind of resent each other as well, for being so involved.  EB even retaliates when Lauren looks up her estranged Dad's art gallery in San Francisco and finds out something hurtful.  Lauren decides to tell EB anyway and the anger gets focused on her instead.  The romantic relationship between Lauren and Keyon was very 'first love' in it's hesitation and shy newness.  It was nice to have such an innocent relationship in a YA book.  I did like EB's relationship with Mark, but it felt really whirlwind and insta-love to me.  Yes, his character was awesome.  But I felt like the "I love you" mentality was way unrealistic.  Overall, this is a book about friendships (old and new), family, romance and learning how to balance them all while dealing with the change of growing up.  I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it, whether you're already a fan of Zarr or Altebrando, or both even.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is December 24th, 2013.*