Living on Impulse

August 17, 2009
In 15-year-old Mia Morrow, Haycak creates a realistic portrait of a teenage girl whose life is spiraling out of control. First, Mia is caught shoplifting and, as punishment, must pay the store $300. Her penchant for partying and aversion to studying drive a wedge between her and her two best friends. Additionally, her alcoholic mother has relapsed, and her grandfather, the one person who seems to have faith in her, is dying. At first, readers won't necessarily sympathize with impulsive “bad girl” Mia, but her story is compelling enough to keep reading, if only to discover how low Mia will sink. With painstaking yet gratifying care, Haycak (Red Palms
) eventually starts Mia along the path of self-realization and forgiveness. Mia finds common ground with her mother, discovering they are both “reaching for something outside themselves to cure what was wrong on the inside,” and forgives her friends as well as herself. Readers who stick with Mia until the end will be glad they did. Ages 12–up.

December 1, 2009
Gr 9-11-Tenth-grader Mia Morrow chases thrills. She shoplifts, enjoying the rush, the anticipation, and the eventual steal. But things go wrong in her favorite department store. The new security system catches her on camera taking a pricey sandal. Instead of rescuing Mia, her mother makes her find a job to pay back the store. Work helps to stabilize Mia, even when things in her life start to go awful, and she decides that a change is in order. She will turn herself around instead of being a loser. While "Impulse" has a great messagebe true to yourself and your potential, and never give upthere is very little that is redeeming about Mia for most of the book. While she does stop her thievery, she is still impulsive and a serial liar until nearly page 200. The only consistently nice thing about Mia is her relationship with her grandfather."Melyssa Malinowski, Kenwood High School, Baltimore, MD"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2009
Grades 9-12 After Mia is caught using the five-finger discount at a local department store, her mom forces her to get a job. Refusing to work in the college lunchroom alongside her townie mother, she finds a position in the entomology department instead, to the delight of her beloved, sickly Grandpa Andy. One could write off Mia as a wild problem-child with daddy issues in the first few chaptersshe steals, lies, and sneaks into a club where shes assaultedbut its a real pleasure to see her eventually harness her impulsivity and couple it with her already present inner strength. Mias burgeoning self-awareness comes to a head at the same time that her life spins out control: her Grandfather is dying, her mother is drinking, she gets caught in the middle of their bickering, and her childhood best friends dump her because of the shoplifting and other erratic behavior. However, Haycak never scapegoats Mias circumstances, and forces her to make changes from within. Deeply flawed but well-written adult characters are the cherry atop this stirring, smart, and affirming read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)