Natasha Friend

I saw this book on the 2020 nominated Lone Star list and noticed that the author usually writes a good book for middle schoolers, so I downloaded it from the public library. I really, really liked it.

Quinn is an unusual character because she is upfront, honest, and doesn’t fall to peer pressure for the most part. Due to a medical condition, Quinn lost her hair over a year ago. Needless to say, her best friends, who were very different from her, and the other kids at school distanced show more themselves. An incident at an 8th grade party sealed her fate and her reputation--even though she clearly stood up for herself and told the truth. Because her brother is autistic, the family moves across the country so that he can attend a school for special needs. This move becomes a new beginning for Quinn.

Quinn wears a wig to her new school in order to try and have a group of friends, especially after her experiences in her former hometown. It’s a small town, so Quinn is noticed by everyone. Three fairly popular girls take her into their friendship circle immediately. She discovers quickly who the “hot” high school boys are. She also learns that their best football player with great potential, Nick, lost both legs to an amputation above the knee after an accident. She also meets Nick’s brother, Tommy, whom the girls are severely crushing on. At first Nick is rude, but they strike up a quick friendship. She knows what it’s like to be judged on appearance and to be stared at because of her bald head and because of her brother’s behavior in public. She encourages Nick as he struggles with his physical therapy steps to regaining walking mobility with prosthetics. Tommy doesn’t act like the typical high school jock with an attitude. He befriends Quinn as well despite Nick’s hostility toward him. The three become a good team.

I liked the novel because the characters are like people should be. When Quinn’s friends look to become the typical “mean” girls we find in books that the main character has to deal with, Quinn talks to them and it gets worked out. Quinn has conversations with her friends, with Nick, and with Tommy which allows them all to be better friends. She also has to learn to trust again--trust friends and trust boys. It’s a good, quick novel. If you like realistic fiction, check this book out! show less

I read this in just over three hours and spent almost as long thinking about it afterward. It's that good. There are numerous books published in recent years about teens experiencing sexual assault, but this takes an unusual path. Nora and her best friend Cam have an argument over attending a party. Cam wants to go, Nora wants to go the the Frat Fest, a fundraiser for local charities. Guess who will be traumatized by morning...It's Nora who was rescued by Alex, a boy who's very good at show more playing baseball, but has to sneak out late at night to practice. When he hears suspicious noises, his night vision goggles, complete with camera, pick up three males hovering over a prone female. Alex runs them off and uses Nora's phone to call Cam.
Come morning, all Nora wants to do is pretend nothing happened, even though the three perpetrators removed her underwear and wrote a number in her crotch area. Thank goodness Cam refuses to let her try to pretend she wasn't assaulted. Enter Asher, Nora's older brother who is Cam's maybe boyfriend, and sees more than others believe he does. No matter how angry and defensive Nora becomes in her desire to pretend she's okay, she can't ignore her growing feelings of unreality and mistrust. When Cam, Alex, and Asher start digging, everything explodes in a messy situation that goes back twenty years, and leaves Nora with a huge sense of betrayal. To say more would give too much away. This is an excellent read, cautionary tale, and example of how contemporary society still refuses to believe victims. It should be part of every library collection. show less

Anna finds herself living with her dad, in his new home, with his new family after she finds her mom at the brink of death. Everything is turning out wrong all of a sudden. Her best friend decided they weren't going to be friends anymore, she has to live with her stepmom - perfect Marnie, and she constantly worries that her mom is going to try to kill herself again.


Source

Well, I'm all cried out. This hit me pretty hard. If you can get me emotional with a book like Where You'll Find Me, show more you've hit me right on the target. Admittedly, I'm an emotional person but I couldn't find one flaw so this was a perfect read for me.

I really felt for Anna. I wish I had this book when I was a kid. There's this confusion you have when a parent is dealing with a mental illness. It just makes you so worried, especially as you grow up until you begin to understand how to process what's happening. You are worried you'll become them. It's a whole jumble of emotions that Friend was able to show through Anna.


Source

Part of dealing with what's happening with her mom, Anna's anger with her dad and stepmom is another big part of Anna's story. New potential friends also come into the mix. I really loved Anna's stepmom. You knew she was trying with Anna and the situation. Her relationship over time with her was what made me really happy about this book. She didn't need anyone against her. Her new misfit crew were also a delight. Overall, I loved everything about this book and there should be more books like this accessible to kids who need them. show less

This book was practically perfect. I consider myself a fairly pessimistic person, and always find at least one or two annoyances with every book. Even if they are minor. I think good reviews should always point out the good AND the bad, so I like to explore what I like and what didn't work as well for me. So as I'm reading this book, I'm like WHAT am I going to say that I would change?? Upon closing the book, I realized I got nothing.

So this book is initially about Milo and Hollis (and the show more book features them as duel narrators) and how they are half siblings-- related through their sperm donor. They had met as small kids and haven't kept in touch, but now Milo wants Hollis to help him find out who their sperm donor is. Milo SAYS it's for medical reasons (he has severe allergies), but it becomes obvious that the reason goes way deeper than that.

Eventually they find out that there are more people that had children using the same donor as theirs-- meaning they have OTHER half-siblings. They all join in group email sessions discussing everything from their feelings about finding their donor to home life to genetics to everyday life things.

Milo has this pot-head friend at school, and I kind of thought ah-ha!! This is what I'm not going to like about this book. The D-Bag friend. But, no. JJ freaking GREW on me. Once we really get to know JJ, it's impossible not to like him.

So what exactly did I love about this book: Besides everything?? Okay, I loved the way the author handled Hollis and her hook-ups with Gunner (a football player that she was using to get back at a friend and also distract her from her feelings). It could have left me with a bad taste in my mouth-- but I kind of loved Hollis for it. FINALLY!! A girl who admits that she likes hooking up. It's okay for us to do it too people!! Also, I think a lot of people use sex and sexy-times as a way to feel good about themselves or for all sorts of various reasons that have nothing to do with the person they're hooking up with. I love that that was explored.

I loved all the siblings and their relationships with each other!! I loved the parents and all their issues and complicated feelings about the kids wanting to find the donor. I loved how Ms. Friend took us on a journey-- and that journey ended up being really exciting. By mid-point in the book, I was on pins and needles waiting for them to figure out how to find their donor & wondering what this man would think about finding out his sperm donation resulted in having 5 children.

This was the most unique book that I've read in a long time. It didn't go into any usual tropes and it didn't randomly let a romance take over the plot when there were bigger issues to deal with. I can't wait to read more by Natasha Friend!!

OVERALL: This book needs WAY more attention. I thought it was witty, silly, nuanced, and one of the most unique YA books I've read in a long time. Do yourself a favor and add this to the TBR.

My Blog:
show less