My Life Undecided
Jessica Brody. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-374-39905-4
Ever since she fell into an abandoned mineshaft at age two, becoming a (temporary) celebrity as the nation watched her rescue, 15-year-old Brooklyn Pierce has made one bad decision after another. Her latest: accidentally burning down her mother's company's model home while throwing a party. Afterward, her longtime best friend, Shayne, dumps her; her parents impose a lifetime of grounding; and she must serve 200 hours of community service at a nursing home. Brooklyn decides her only choice is to stop making choices, and she starts a blog where she invites readers to make her life decisions for her. Brody (The Karma Club) taps into a universal human desire%E2%80%94who, at some point, hasn't wished to surrender all responsibility for one's decisions? Underneath the farfetched premise, this is a straightforward but amusing coming-of-age story with many funny moments and a standard-issue good boy/bad boy love triangle. Brooklyn's growth is as predictable as what guy she'll end up with, but her flustered, off-the-cuff narration should keep readers as invested in her actions as her blog followers are. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (June)
Details
Reviewed on: 04/25/2011
Genre: Children's
Open Ebook - 320 pages - 978-1-4299-4099-3
Paperback - 336 pages - 978-1-250-00483-3