Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks

After spending six weeks of her summer away from home, working on a hiking trail expansion, Carly returns home to her upper class neighbourhood in Atlanta with a greater desire to be real. But while she struggles with how to be true to herself, she must also deal with the reality that her little sister, Anna, has grown up over the summer and become the definition of hot. Struggling with her ultra religious and conservative high school, crushes on boys, and her complicated relationship with her sister makes Carly's attempts to define herself increasingly complicated.

This novel was a fun read while simultaneously dealing with some serious themes. Addressing issues of body image, sisterhood, and identity, Myracle interweaves humour and a show more compelling narrative to fantastic effect. Carly is an utterly realistic teenager with all of the built in insecurities and the occasional lack of perspective that makes her fascinating to follow. The other characters are equally interesting and well-crafted and are an essential aspect of what makes the novel so enjoyable. But the best element in this novel is its look at sisters and the complicated relationships that exist between them. An excellent read. show less

Let me preface this to say that my review in this matter is not to be trusted. I met Lauren Myracle at the 2009 NYLA conference and she was just awesome. Sweet and down to earth and did a great talk on censorship and awesome. And she really says "y'all" in real life!! Eeee! So, anyway, I might be a skosh biased, just a warning.

After doing a summer stint of volunteer work in the Tennessee woods, Carly returns home to find that not only has she changed but so has her year younger sister Anna. While Carly was getting "hippie-fied," Anna was growing boobs and getting H-O-T. At least, that's what all the guys are saying when the two sister start high school, Carly an experienced older sister sophomore and Anna to start her freshman year. show more What Carly first thinks will be great, FINALLY going to school with her beloved younger sister, turns out to be more emotionally taxing than she thought. She is torn between defending and protecting her younger sister as she always has and letting her grow up on her own so she, Carly, can be her own person. And it doesn't help that everyone keeps reminding her how HOT Anna is. Each sister anchored by a jealousy they can't explain (shouldn't they be happy for each other?) must figure out how to mire through high school dramas and still maintain the sisterly bond they've always shared.

Blech! Masked by a perfectly dull review (my fault, I'm still learning), is a novel that is not as trite and overdone as it may seem. While the much used novel ploy of "ugly smart sister vs. dumb beautiful one" could be tired here, it just isn't. This is one of the most accurate depictions of females and highschool in a novel, for me, I have ever read. I say for me because I know not everyone lived in upper-middle class white suburbia and had different experiences growing up. But this hit the nail on the head for me. There were times reading this that I got annoyed or aggravated and was like, "No way! Who ACTS like that?!" And then I reminded myself, 15 year-olds act like that. I acted like that and probably more often than I am comfortable with. Lauren (yes, I feel that since we met and hugged and shared a picture that I can use her first name) has a really great knack for not forgetting how annoying being 15 can really be. And how annoying we, as 15 year olds, were.

I especially identified with Carly. It was this way in my family too. The smart one vs. the pretty one with me always trying to separate myself and be the "free spirit" and my sister seemingly fitting in just fine. When really we were both smart AND pretty and we managed to stick these uncomfortable labels on ourselves when if we had just TALKED to the other, we would have found out that we were both jealous of the other for the same things! Oye! Sorry, I digress. Back from my trip down high school hell lane. I've said this before and I maintain that if I had had or been offered novels like this when I was a teen, I would have done things differently. Coped better with things, come to terms with myself better, worried less. Lauren has done a wonderful job of making relatable, real characters, even if they annoy us sometimes. Because that's what real people do. And we love them anyway. Especially if they are our sisters. show less

Carly spent the summer working hard in the mountains of Tennessee. Days of hard physical labor, close to the trees and the earth and the sky, give Carly a new outlook on life, as well as new muscle definition. She returns home to find that she isn't the only one who has changed over the summer -- little sister Anna, about to be a high school freshman, has developed unexpected curves that are sure to get second looks from the guys. As Carly and Anna head to school, they find themselves drifting apart: while Anna is dealing with her freshman-year struggles, compounded by body-image issues, Carly is questioning authority, religion, and her own identity in their affluent private-school world -- not to mention dealing with some serious show more jealousy of her suddenly hot little sister. To top it off, Carly is crushing on new guy Cole, a rebellious musician who is only interested in swapping 60's music references with Carly, though Carly is interested in much more. When Carly finds Anna and Cole together at a party, she is enraged -- until Anna disappears. As Carly desperately searches the neighborhood, she realizes that she and her sister share a bond too strong to be broken over a boy.

This story, told from Carly's perspective, introduces a strong, dynamic character. Carly examines a lot of serious issues, and while not all of them are resolved completely, this adds a level of authenticity to the story, which would otherwise ring false. The baby ducks, introduced at the end of the story, are a slightly too obvious metaphor for Carly and Anna's relationship, but otherwise this book is an often sweet, sometimes funny, and entirely enjoyable examination of love and sisterhood. show less

Even though I do not have a sister, I was able to put myself into the story. I understand the main character, Carla's role to protect her younger sister but not being able to control her jealous towards her. The story is never boring and it is divided into many chapters, which made me finish the book faster than I have expected. I really enjoyed reading this book and I recommend this book to other teenage readers.

The Short of It

Baby sister isn’t the baby anymore.

The Long of It

Carly, the older sister by one year, returns from her summer trip helping the environment. Her parents might secretly think she’s a hippie or cause seeker. Upon her return, her newest decision was to stop shaving her legs. Anna is entirely opposite. Even though she’s younger only by one year, she’s definitely the baby and princess in the family. Anna also fits in with the country club lifestyle that their parents provide (Carly snubs her nose at it and throws out how much money could be going to the homeless). Regardless of their differences, Carly and Anna have always been close. Except now their roles are changing as their personalities become more definite.

The show more Thoughts about It

Okay, here’s the unfortunate thing about this book, and probably something that separates me from the teens out there. This cover just screams cutesy and fluffy writing. And guys, IT’S NOT. Don’t get me wrong, it still is a great book to read at the beach, or curled up on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee BUT it’s not shallow. And to me, the cover gave me some tummy somersaults. I went ahead and dove in because we were going on a car trip and I figured there was no better time. I am SO glad that I did. Seriously.

peace, love, and baby ducks was a perfect mix of realistic sisterly strife and individual teens growing into their personalities. There were fights and obnoxious moments when I wanted to pull one of them aside and shout: are you kidding me?! Aw and there was love and friendships. And let’s not forget the funnies.

In this case, I’m glad I didn’t judge the book by the cover. And I’m thrilled knowing that the cover will have teen appeal because this is a read that will surely be enjoyed by many. show less

Carly's little sister Anna has suddenly turned drop dead gorgeous, and when she starts at the same highschool, Carly find she's the one in a shadow.
This is an wonderful story of sisterhood and growin up. You can see Carly doing and saying exactly the wrong thing, but can't help loving her anyway, and knowing deep down you probably would have done the same.
Classic plot elements are here, the cute new boy, the drifting apart friends, the clueless parents, the unwanted houseparty - but Carly and Anna are such vivid characters it all feels fresh.
I'd give this to people looking for realistic family or highschool stories where the rancebis secondary to the character development.

Reviewed by Andrea for TeensReadToo.com

Carly and Anna are two sisters who are very close in age, but very far apart in personality.

Carly is a sophomore in high school who is very skinny after spending six weeks of the summer working outdoors in Tennessee. She wants to be different than the "Barbies" (as she calls them) at her preppy Catholic School. Anna is a freshman in high school who suddenly grew a large chest over the summer, has all the right curves, and is beautiful. All of the boys want her, but she is seen as a sex object.

PEACE, LOVE, & BABY DUCKS deals with their relationship and the trials of high school life.

I read this book in one sitting. I really could identify with parts of both Carly and Anna. I could totally understand show more how Carly wanted to be different and wanted to be accepted for that. But I could also see how Anna didn't want to be different and wanted Carly to accept HER for that.

This was a great sisterly story (it made me wish I had a sister). I found myself laughing out loud at a bunch of what the sisters said. There was also a great love story with Carly. Who should she choose - the cool, guitar-playing Cole, or the always there for her, Dutch Roger? And I loved all the ducky references.

Overall, a really cute teeny-bopper story! show less