and that it shouldn't change anything.
Especially if your mom is okay with
it." "I wouldn't say she's okay with it, but she's not mad at him." I pull my knees up to my chest and hold them there while I think of the right way to explain. "She knows he doesn't mean to hurt us, but it's kind of hard, because I think it might be easier if they didn't like each other so much and just got divorced for the usual reasons."
Happy publication day to Dear Sweet Pea! It's time to celebrate.
This new middle years novel from Julie Murphy continues her run at capturing worthy and memorable characters in stories that speak honestly to the emotional bumps of adolescence, family, friendship, and diversity.
Sweet Pea DiMarco has a lot on her plate. Her parents are divorced. Her mother's solution to their living conditions is for her father to rent a look-a-like house two doors down from their family home. That way Sweet Pea can move seamlessly back and forth, from one house to the other depending on whose night it is. The divorce happened when her father announced he was gay. Her parents continue to love each other, and only want what is best for their daughter.
Then, there's school and friendships; Sweet Pea's former best friend has decided she likes the popular girls more than she is loyal to Sweet Pea. They are in the same seventh grade class, and Kiera is mean enough not to ask Sweet Pea to her birthday party (even though every other kid in class is invited). Her new best friend, Oscar, wants to attend because it's being held at the brand new Trampoline Zone.
Into the mix the author adds Miss Flora Mae, an older woman who lives between Sweet Pea's two houses and writes an advice column for the local newspaper. When Miss Flora Mae must leave town to help her sister, she leaves Sweet Pea with the job of taking care of the paperwork while she is away. Oh, and her plants and the music they love to hear. While helping out Sweet Pea gets herself in a bit of a fix. How she works through the consequences of that makes for a compelling story, filled with familiar situations that readers have likely experienced ... friendship issues, family difficulties, guilt.
Through it all, Sweet Pea becomes stronger and more confident. As with Ms. Murphy's characters in previous books, Sweet Pea is overweight. It matters more to others than it does to Oscar, her parents, or herself. She has a strong sense of self and shows it through a first person narrative that is funny, and full of charm.
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