Teaser: Having the perfect life one day, then having it all taken away from you the next.
Plot Summary: Alyssa is sent across country to live with her mother after she is dumped by her girlfriend and rejected by her father. Now she must live with a mother that abandoned her at birth. Can she overcome her loneliness and find a way to find new love and to accept her mother?
Critical Evaluation: This is an intense book with many characters and tough situations. The main character, Alyssa has just broken up with her girlfriend and has to deal with being angry at her homophobic father kicking her to the curb to live across country with her mother. That is a lot to deal with for a teenager. Even though Alyssa is mad at her father, she also makes the same judgments upon her mother for being an exotic dancer. There is a lot going on in this book and at some points it is hard to keep track of them all, but all in all it is a good read. In the end Alyssa learns from her mistakes as she struggles to accept the new life she is living.
Author Information: According to the author's website,http://www.julieannepeters.com,"Julie Anne Peters is the critically-acclaimed, award winning author of more than a dozen books for young adults and children. Her book, Luna, was a National Book Award Finalist; Keeping You a Secret was named a Stonewall Honor Book; Between Mom and Jo won a Lambda Literary Award; and Define “Normal” was voted by young readers as their favorite book of the year in California and Maryland. Julie’s books have been published in numerous countries, including Korea, China, Croatia, Germany, France, Italy, Indonesia, and Brazil."
She was born in Jamestown, New York in 1952. Her family moved to Colorado when she was 5 years old. She graduated from high school in Denver and went on to earn a degree in Elementary Education. She taught 1 year of fifth grade before deciding teaching was not for her so she went back to school and earned a B.S. in Computer and Management Science. She also earned a Masters degree in Business and Computer Science. During her ten year IS career she began writing to keep herself from thinking she had failed at her second career. She is know a bestselling author living in Colorado with her partner, Sherri and a few cats.
Genre: Realistic Fiction/ LGBTQ
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: How would you deal with moving across country to live with your estranged mother? Did you expect Alyssa secret to be what it was?
Reading Level/Interest Age: 15+
Challenge Issues: Lesbian relationship. If this book was challenged I would go to, ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why included?
Genre: Realistic Fiction/ LGBTQ
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: How would you deal with moving across country to live with your estranged mother? Did you expect Alyssa secret to be what it was?
Reading Level/Interest Age: 15+
Challenge Issues: Lesbian relationship. If this book was challenged I would go to, ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials.
Why included?
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