For Keeps

March 22, 2010
Like the Gilmore Girls, the Gardner girls are close friends as well as mother and daughter. When she was 16, Kate dropped out of high school to give birth to Josie, while her high school sweetheart, Paul (the father), moved to Arizona with his family. Now, 16 years later, Paul's parents have returned, pushing the past back into the present. Although Josie has no desire to meet her father, fate intervenes and secrets are revealed to Josie and Kate about the circumstances of Josie's birth. Adding to the drama are new men in the lives of both Gardners, and a pregnancy scare for Josie's sassy best friend, Liv, which allow for additional discussions about teen pregnancy and safe sex. Josie's dry sense of humor (“Here I am, asking the question to end all questions... and this is what I get. My head is pounding. I need coffee
”) helps balance out the heavier themes. Things wrap up a bit neatly and Josie tends toward the theatrical, but Friend (Bounce
) weaves a strong story that should hook readers. Ages 12–up.

April 1, 2010
Gr 7 Up-Josie's junior year is more eventful than she had expected. While navigating her first serious romance, she must come to terms with the fact that her mother has a boyfriend for the first time in 16 years. Josie has never known her father, who moved out of state with his family before she was born. When her paternal grandparents move back into town, she has to face the possibility of meeting him. This fast-paced story takes many twists and turns as the teen discovers the truth behind her parents' separation and her father's absence. Josie is humorous and sincere as she narrates both her mother's struggle and her own to let go of the past and embrace new relationships. The book discusses sex and abortion, and includes adult language and underage drinking. Many readers will be able to relate to this protagonist, whose strength and maturity set a positive example. Friend skillfully portrays the challenges of adolescence while telling an engaging story with unique and genuine characters."Erin Carrillo, formerly at Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
Grades 8-11 Growing up in Elmhurst, Massachusetts, high-school junior Josie is close with her single-parent mom, Katie, 33, who got pregnant as a teenager. Mother and daughter have a lot of fun together, sometimes switching roles, but then Paul, the father Josie has never met, comes back to town. Will Josie run into him? Why did he leave after he found out Katie was pregnant and never contact them again? Did he want Katie to have an abortion? With the mother-daughter relationship at the core of this lively novel, the contemporary story also weaves in many subplots about Josies romance with her boyfriend and her friendship with her best pal, Liv, who has a happy family with two gay dads. Is Liv pregnant? Abortion is a recurring theme, and so is family. But this isn't just an issue-driven story. There is a real plot, filled with fast, immediate dialogue and secrets about Josies mother, father, and grandparents that continue to the novel's end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)