Books like Bounce

I would ideally give this book 2.5 stars since it really does fall somewhere between "it was okay" and "I liked it." This was my least favorite Natasha Friend book probably because it seemed the least realistic to me. I didn't really think there was a lot of character development so Evyn seemed really flat compared to Friend's previous protagonists. It was hard to see past her anger although I guess in this sense Friend may have actually nailed down the behavior and emotional capacity of a 12-year-old... I guess I just felt like Friend tried way too hard to make the problem too complex and that dragged down everything. In the story, Evyn 1) finds out that her dad is getting remarried, 2) the family has to move to Boston, where the fiancee and her family live, 3) the fiancee has SIX kids, 4) Evyn's dad and his fiancee announce that they are having another baby, 5) no one at Evyn's new school likes her, 6) she grows apart from her old best friend, etc., etc., etc. It was just too much and it seemed a bit unreal to me just how detached from reality everyone in the book seemed. I would like to think that in reality the stepmother's character would try harder to make Evyn feel comfortable. There was no scene in the book where she specifically tried to reach out and that bothered me. Every attempt was woven into something more "casual" and I hate that because sometimes when things are tough -- like when your widowed father is remarrying someone -- you (the adult) just have to DO or SAY something DIRECTLY instead of always beating around the bush hoping peple know what you are talking about. It killed me that the adults were so... oblivious.Maybe this is a reflection on how American family members are so emotionally detached from one another. I'm not sure exactly but I can't seem to let go of the fact that no adult in this book ever sat down with Evyn to really talk to her about what was going on. So that's where the 2 rating comes from. There was one scene that was very powerful. It was towards the end when Evyn and Eleni (the stepmom) finally sort of bond. They both talk about their dead mothers. It was sad but it had much more depth than any other scene in the rest of the book. Overall, though, I recommend reading Friend's Lush instead.