Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Review: Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer introduces us to seventh grader Apron who has recently lost her mother to cancer and her best friend to one of the more popular girls in school. When her father remarries and her "evil" stepmother becomes pregnant, it is almost too much for Apron to bear - she becomes unmoored. Fortunately, her friend Mike and his partner, Chad, offer Apron a job in their florist shop and things get a little better. As the summer progresses, however, young Apron begins to see things happening in the lives of the adults around her that force her to grow up very quickly and the comfort she once found in working at the flower shop is eclipsed by the drama she witnesses there in the lives of her friends.

This is a quirky coming of age story that crosses genres - its young protagonist could land it in YA but her precocious observations of the adult situations by which she is surrounded make it more of a contemporary adult fiction. As an adult reader, there are things (such as Chad's illness) that you figure out before Apron but rather than that being a disappointment, there is still interest in watching as Apron is initially blind to these revelations and then seeing her young mind trying to get a handle on these adult situations. I found myself worrying about Apron as I could see things coming down the pike; the pain and awkwardness of being thirteen are palpable as you watch Apron grapple with the loss of her mother, her best friend and even her Dad to the evil stepmom. Despite the many funny moments in the book, I was sad for all that Apron faces and the childhood that she is quickly losing as she copes with all this loss.

Girl Unmoored certainly appeals to adults especially as we can be reminded of how happy we are that the early teens are behind us! I also think, however, that this book could be good for girls in their mid to late teens - they will be close enough in age to Apron to relate and she is a solid heroine who copes with adversity with a lot of pluck which makes for a good teen role model.

The author is offering a unique promotion right now for Girl Unmoored: Now through April 6th, when you comment about Girl Unmoored on Jennifer’s blog at www.jennifergoochhummer.com, you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing to win a tote bag stuffed with gifts that blend the hottest 2012 e-reader with totally rad ’80s memorabilia and more! And if you purchase the book (print or e-book) and forward your receipt confirmation to contests@sparkpointstudio.com, your name will be entered to win 10 TIMES! That’s 11 chances to win the following awesome prizes:

 - A Kindle Fire, just in time for spring break lounging!
 - DVDs of Best Of 80s movies to celebrate the year of Girl Unmoored, 1985
- Copies of Jennifer’s Top 5 YA books: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie; She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb; Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson; The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty; and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- A gift card to 1-800 Flowers in honor of Apron’s summer job at Mike and Chad’s flower shop, Scent Appeal

The winner will be notified and announced the week of April 23rd.

Thank you to Lisa at SparkPointStudio for the copy of this book she provided for review

10 comments:

  1. Wow this poor young girl! I am really feeling for her in your review. Sounds like a great book!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I keep reading great things about this book. I'm really curious about the name Apron.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds really good! BTW, this is my first time here and I really like the design of your blog and especially the colors!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Libby and welcome! Hope you will come back again soon.

      Delete
  4. I know I'm glad to have my early teen years behind me! And is her name Apron or April? I got so distracted by her name!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's Apron - I just went back and re-read my review to realize April had crept in there! I fixed it - sorry for the confusion!

      Delete
  5. This sounds like exactly the kind of book where I can enjoy a story about a young person without feeling like I'm reading a book strictly written for teens.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love these coming of age stories that straddle genre. I will definitely check it out - via sample chapter on my Kindle. I love how your reviews give us a taste that begs for more.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow. I am not usually drawn to YA kind of books, or books that feature miserable children, but you've really written convincingly on this one, Colleen. I will have to give it a try!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had heard of this one before, but I wasn't sure if it will be for me. Looks like I will enjoy it. I seem to like early teen books better than the late-teen ones, so I'll check this one.

    ReplyDelete