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Source: Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy. This post is part of the FIRST Wild Card Tour.
Book Description from Back Cover:
Normal? While family dinners and vacations to touristy destinations are ordinary events for her “normal” friends, fifteen-year-old Jessie Hatcher’s normal life means dealing with her ADHD and her mother’s bipolar disorder. So why is Jessie shocked when the unexpected happens? Now her “normal” includes living in Florida with the father she always thought was dead and learning the secrets of sushi from a man who teaches by tormenting her. Life isn’t any saner with her dad, but a cute guy and a mysterious book might just be the crazy Jessie needs.
Review:
Motorcycles, Sushi, & One Strange Book is a fast-paced young adult novel with some romance. This is the first book in the Real Life series, but you can read them in any order without missing information or spoiling the other books in the series.
The world-building was excellent in all areas and brought the story alive in my imagination. I liked the characters. They acted realistically and dealt with realistic, hard problems. I cared about what happened to the characters, so I had a hard time putting the novel down.
This was definitely a Christian novel. Jessie found a strange, RL book with stories from the Bible about Jesus but they seemed written just for her and the situation she's going through. The Christian element was a main part of the story, but I didn't feel like the author was lecturing the reader or Jessie. It was handled in a way that was both comforting and challenging.
There wasn't any cussing or swearing. There was no sex. Overall, I highly recommend this novel as a well-written, clean reading.
If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.
About the Author:
Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween and teen issues. She and husband Jim have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.
Visit the author's website
Book Trailer:
Excerpt from Chapter One
I guess my life was crazy even before the day it really lost its mind. I just didn't think it was.
I did think my friend Chelsea's life was a little weird. Her parents had been married to each other for twenty years and her family sat down at the table to eat supper together every night. They always had dishes like broccoli-and-cheese casserole or green beans a la mode. Or something.
I definitely considered my friend Marcus's life to be strange. His family went on a two-week vacation every single summer to places like Key West and the Grand Canyon. The day my world went insane, he was off with his parents and his little sister in California where they were staying in hotels and eating in restaurants that had tablecloths. Totally off the wall.
Okay, so I need to get to the point, which as you'll see I sometimes have trouble doing. I was like that even before that Saturday morning in late June--or was it early July? Doesn't matter. It was summer, so there was no reason to keep track of what month it was.
Press the Browse Button to view the entire first chapter:
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2 comments:
This is an absolutely amazing novel for teenage girls. The similarities and lifelike nature of the story made it so easy to read, and i especially felt as if i was experiencing and feeling Jessie's thoughts, life and emotions. I found i could connect to Jessie in more ways then one, especially as we share the same name and age. The christian element to this story set the novel far above any other fantasy texts, and i really enjoyed Rue's creation of 'RL', and it's modernistic Bible attributes! I also was incredibly inspiried by how Rue portrayed Jessie to have ADHD, as it was insightful to read from the perspective of someone in this situation. All in all, this novel was fabulous! Fast-paced with romance, wit and character!
Jessie,
Thanks for sharing your review of the novel! :)
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