Have you ever wished you were born to a different family?
The thought is something most of us have probably entertained while growing up, especially during the not so few times our family drives us up the wall. But no matter what we do, family will always be family, and there’s not very much we can do about it.
This is the theme behind Get Real by Betty Hicks (book #71 of 2009), a young adult novel that explores the concept of family.
The neat freak Dez feels ill at ease with her eccentric, messy and geeky family, while her best friend Jil feels constricted by her affluent, cultured and picture-perfect parents, and both would have loved nothing more than to switch places. Jil, an adopted child, and grabs at the opportunity to meet her birth mom and sister, and Dez cannot understand why Jil is so eager to trade in her perfect life.
I actually just mooched this book from a local moocher and it was one of those filler mooches that I made to help the owner economize on shipping (2-mooch minimum).
While there was nothing really outstanding about the book, it wasn’t half bad, I was actually amused at Dez’s bewilderment towards her Rennaissance poetry-quoting dad, muumuu-loving scientist mom, and disaster-prone younger brother. I think this is something everyone goes through, that moment of incredulity when you actually wonder if you come from the same set of genes as the rest of your family.
I like how it tackles family issues realistically, and how it is a fresh and healthy voice in contemporary young adult literature, which I’m afraid right now is oversaturated with skanky novels and empty special effects.
Plus points go to the cover design also, its seventeen-style treatment is very appealing to the age group for which the book is intended.
***
my copy: hardcover with dustjacket, local mooch
my rating: 3/5 stars
