Bounce [Mass Market Paperback]

Natasha Friend (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2009

From the author of PERFECT and LUSH, another novel that tells it like it is.

The perils of dealing with a new stepfamily are illuminated with the same Blume-like heart and wit that Natasha Friend brought to PERFECT and LUSH.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—At her 13th-birthday dinner, Evyn's hippie father, Birdie, drops a bomb. He is going to marry Eleni Gartos, a college professor with six children, and Evyn and her 15-year-old brother will be leaving their home in Maine and moving to Boston with him. Evyn feels that her world has collapsed, while Mackey just asks to have two desserts. Feeling alone, the girl begins a dialogue with her dead mother as she imagines her. Friend captures the emotions and angst of a teen on the brink of womanhood thrust into a large, vocal stepfamily while having to share her father with a woman she hardly knows and a house full of stepsiblings. Throughout her ups and downs, Birdie's love remains constant, her stepsiblings are accepting, and her brother is transforming himself from a nerdy computer geek into a fledgling thespian. When her stepmother becomes pregnant, Evyn sets out to hop a bus to Maine. The beginnings of acceptance and possibilities are ignited as she learns to follow her inner "wise woman"—her mother's advice-and to "bounce" with the changes in her life. Friend offers no fairy-tale ending but presents, through hip conversations and humor, believable characters and a feel-good story with a satisfying amount of pathos.—D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

NATASHA FRIEND is also the author of Perfect and Lush. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and children.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439853532
• ISBN-13: 978-0439853538
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Family Life > Stepfamilies

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, July 7, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bounce (Hardcover)

Evyn's father has just announced that he is getting remarried, and they will be moving from Maine to Boston immediately. With barely time to say good-bye to her best friend, Jules, Evyn finds herself living with a constantly smiling and cooking stepmother and five new step-siblings.

Evyn's mother died in a car accident when Evyn was only one. Since then it's been just her brother Mackey and their dad, who they both call Birdie. Things have gone along just fine. Now her world has turned upside down.

It is one major adjustment at a time. There is a new school to get used to. A group of popular girls seems ready to admit Evyn into their sacred circle, but she soon finds out it's because they have a total fascination with her new stepbrother, Ajax. Then there's the loud, over-friendly stepmother to contend with, and the sudden changes that have her father acting like someone she's never met before.

In an effort to deal with all of the change, Evyn finds herself continuing the mental conversations she's been having with her dead mother for as long as she can remember. It helps for a while, but Evyn eventually realizes she is going to need to make some adjustments and learn to live in this new and strange family arrangement.

Natasha Friend, author of Perfect: A Novel and Lush, takes readers on the roller coaster ride that is Evyn's new life. You'll feel her frustration, sadness, and fear on every page.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

5.0 out of 5 stars Pitch Perfect, August 29, 2010

By 

Karen Keyte (Cumberland, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bounce (Mass Market Paperback)

Here's how Evyn's father broked the news: he took Evyn and her brother Mackey out for seafood and once they were stuffing their faces he just let it fly, "'Kids, I'm getting married.' Then, `We're moving to Boston.' And there you have it. Blammo! Life as we know it, over."

Just that quickly, everything in Evyn's life changes, and changes drastically. For twelve of her thirteen years, it's been Evyn, her brother and her father. Just the three of them living next to the ocean on the coast of Maine in a house with a big backyard. Now they are moving into her father's fiancee's house with her stepmother-to-be and five of her six kids.

Evyn's miserable, but she doesn't know what to do about it and doesn't want to let it show. Her father seems so happy with his new family, in fact, he hardly seems like the same person Evyn grew up with. Even Mackey is content with their crazy new life and their `mandatory moments of family bonding.' Evyn knows she should try to adjust, to bounce along with all the changes, but somehow she just can't.

Natasha Friend captures the anger, insecurity and sadness that often come with a beloved parent's second marriage. Evyn's vulnerability, as well as her stubborn refusal to like anything about her new situation, are perfectly portrayed.

4.0 out of 5 stars Getting Adjusted, April 4, 2010

By 

Sheva Apelbaum "Sheva" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bounce (Mass Market Paperback)

When 13 year old Evyn's father breaks some big news to her, she is sure that this will mean the end of her world. Her mother died when Evyn was one, so she grew up with only her brother Mack and her father Birdie. Twelve years after her mom's death, her dad meets a woman named Eleni and they decide that they are going to get married. Evyn is in for a surprise when she learns that her future stepmother has a load of children. But why is the woman who is to become her stepmother being so especially kind and nice? That is what Evyn is determined to find out. Evyn must adjust to her new life but she refuses to forget her old one. Can she do it?

I liked that this book was so realistic and how easy it was to relate to. The author also did a great job conveyed Evyn's sadness, fear, and hope.