The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend
Author: Natasha Friend
.........................................................
Pages: 272
Published: 2016
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Genre: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Mental Health
.........................................................
Date Read: April 30, 2019
Rating: ★★★★☆
The first month of school, thirteen-year-old Anna Collette finds herself…
Dumped by her best friend, Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade “hanging out with different people.”
Deserted by her mom, who’s in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt.
Trapped in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride.
Stuck at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with.
But what if all isn’t lost? What if Anna’s mom didn’t exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna’s stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn’t such a bad fit after all?
With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl-band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay.
Just by looking at this book you'd think it would hold a beautiful story full of happiness and friendship but no! The pretty flowers and paster rainbows have nothing to do with the story and I love it.
This book deals with such a powerful theme. The main characters mother almost dies of an overdose on painkillers and leaves her daughter to deal with it.
But that's not just it. Anna also deals with adults being inconsiderate and malicious gossip. Along with losing friends, not knowing when other kids are being nice or messing with her, new stepmom and a baby step-sibling. This kid is barely a teen and she has already dealt with so much. That I couldn't help but root for her to find some sort of peace in all the mess she was in.
I think I might have cried twice. Not only because of what Anna went through but because of her friends'stories. There are just too many moments in this book that tugged at my heartstrings and made me cry so much.
And in the end, I was left being so thankful for the messed up childhood I had because it ever went beyond the point of being completely alone in a tough situation like Anna was.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Welcome, all lovely booknerds!