Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

A School Library Journal Best Book, an ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults

Ratings Explanation

Language:  Three or four profanities.

Sexual Content:  Nothing overt, but a few things going on in the background, such as Addie’s mom spending nights with her boyfriend and Addie’s stepdad living with his new girlfriend before they get married.  Addie’s mom becomes pregnant.  Also, Addie and her friend discussing puberty and “getting boobs”; Addie gets her first period.

Adult Themes:  Addie’s mom and stepdad get divorced.  Addie’s mom frequently leaves her at home alone for days on end.  Her mother smokes.  She is manic depressive, and an extremely negligent parent.  Soula, who owns the minimart nextdoor, is waging a desperate battle with cancer. Elliot, who also works at the minimart, is gay and has a boyfriend.  The Department of Youth and Family Services takes Addie away from her mother.

Synopsis

12-year-old Addison Schmeeter, or Addie, has a rough life.  Her slightly crazy mom just divorced her stepdad, Dwight, and now Dwight and Addie’s two younger half-sisters have moved away, leaving Addie and her mom in a trailer.  The trailer sits on a corner lot under a bridge, near a laundromat, a minimart, and a big, ugly field.  Not the most picturesque spot in Schenectady, New York.  And there’s not a lot of food in the trailer most days (a few boxes of mac-and-cheese, some Cheerios, a couple of cans of tomato soup) because Mommers often forgets to do the grocery shopping.  In fact, Mommers often spends so much time with her new boyfriend that she doesn’t even come home, leaving Addie to fend for herself, sometimes for days on end.  But Addie tries not to let it get her down–she has her flute (sort-of stolen from her last school), and her hamster, Piccolo, to keep her company, and her new friends Soula and Elliot across the street at the minimart, who are often more of a family to Addie than she’s ever known. They provide affection and humor for Addie, even though Soula is slowly dying of cancer.  But when Addie travels upstate to visit her adoring stepdad, and sees the new life he’s living in a bed-and-breakfast mansion complete with Hannah (his fabulous girlfriend who loves to cook) and her sweet little sisters, then she sees the life she’d like to be living, too.  And she feels trapped, knowing which life she’d choose if she could, and also realizing she is all her mother has left in the world, even if Mommers isn’t around much, anyway.

It’s hard to write up a review of this book without it sounding depressing.  Who wouldn’t be depressed living Addie’s run-down life?  Well, Addie, that’s who, which is why this book is so compelling and well-written.  Its heartwarming protagonist carries the entire story along, narrating her heartbreaks and also deftly balancing quirky but lovable characters (like Soula and Elliot) with her dysfunctional Mommers, but always with hopeful perseverance.  I honestly couldn’t put this book down.  I loved her character because, in spite of all she’s going through, she tries to be strong, tries to be her mother’s rock, tries to keep her chin up.  She is a modern-day Pollyanna, minus the slightly annoying perkiness.  And when her heart breaks, you just want to hug her and make everything better.  You cry and you cheer for her, and you hope her dreams of “waiting for normal”, a normal life, will finally come true.  (Spoiler alert:  they do. sigh.) One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.