Girl Unmoored [Kindle Edition]

Jennifer Gooch Hummer (Author)

Book Description

Apron Bramhall has come unmoored. Fortunately, she’s about to be saved by Jesus. Not that Jesus—the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ Superstar. Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike, who’s suddenly everywhere, until she’s stuck in church with him one day. Then something happens—Apron’s broken teenage heart blinks on for the first time since she’s been adrift.Mike and his boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, and Apron’s world seems to calm. But when she uncovers Chad’s secret, stormy seas return. Apron starts to see things the adults around her fail to—like what love really means, and who is paying too much for it.Apron has come unmoored, but now she’ll need to take the helm if she’s to get herself and those she loves to safe harbor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Middle school is purgatory for Apron Bramhall. Her mother is dead. Her best friend Rennie has fallen under the spell of the local Queen Bee. Margie (aka "M"), the Brazilian nurse who cared for her late parent, has literally moved in on her depressed Latin professor father, all the while trying to dispose of Apron's beloved pet guinea pig. It's a classic case of things can't get worse, but they do quickly in this fast-paced bildungsroman set in 1980s coastal Maine. When Dad announces his plans to marry the devious M--a prospect that excites no one--the 7th-grader has to grow up quickly. But the ruckus she inadvertently causes at their hastily arranged church wedding propels her literally headlong into the lives of Mike and Chad, a gay couple who run a local flower shop and are coming to terms with their own struggles. The bittersweet story of their friendship and the young adolescent's gradual understanding and acceptance of their doomed relationship is infused with love and punctuated with wry good humor. The rapid fire dialogue helps along an ambitious first novel... Apron may be adrift, but Hummer's debut is on track. (Mar.)
Reviewed on: 02/20/2012

Review

Moonbeam Book Award 2012, YA Mature Issues

Indie Excellence Awards 2012, Winner Cross-Genre Fiction

Next Generation Indie Awards 2012, Winner YA Fiction

Paris Book Festival Award 2012, Winner YA Fiction

San Francisco Book Festival Award 2012, Winner Teen Fiction

International Book Awards 2012, Finalist Best New Book

Reader Views Kids Award Winner, Best Teen/YA Book of the Year, 2012

Reader Views Winner, Best Teen/YA Fiction 2012

Foreword Book of The Year Finalist, YA Fiction 2012

"Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer may be the undiscovered young-adult novel of the summer"
-- Entertainment Weekly

"I have very rarely encountered a debut novel that would have touched me so deeply... I simply can not recommend this book highly enough-"
-- The Seattle Post

"Girl Unmoored helps moor us all."
-- The Portland Press Herald

“Poignant, candid, and heartbreakingly unique, Girl Unmoored is the best debut novel I’ve read in 2012.”
–- Reader Girls

“I think you should just trust me when I say read it. Put down whatever mish-mash you’re reading and find this book.”
-- Anthology of a Girl

"Girl Unmoored is on its way to becoming a classic coming-of-age.”
–- The Divining Wand

"Holy Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Batman! There is a new coming of age novel on the scene and it’s awesome!"
–- Well Read Wife

"Read this book. You will feel human and alive."
-- Write Meg

"A haunting debut. It frankly took my breath away."
-- Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

"A masterful debut- a must-read!"
-- Elise Allen, New York Times bestselling co-author of Populazzi

"Girl Unmoored breaks through the wall around your heart, giving it room to expand."
-- Susan Henderson, bestselling author of Up from the Blue

"A quirky coming-of-age tale that will break your heart one minute and have you laughing out loud the next."
-- Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Product Details

• File Size: 474 KB
• Print Length: 330 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1936558300
• Publisher: Fiction Studio Books (March 6, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0073HNMJY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,070 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carpe Diem February 27, 2012

By J. S. Benjamin

Format:Paperback

Seize The Day (!) and read "Girl Unmoored" for an original voice that will ring in your ears long after the last page. Apron Bramhall is an engaging, intrepid narrator who takes you along for a bumpy ride, selling cast offs out of an old red wagon, and gaining strength and inspiration from a guinea pig, a flower arranging prophet and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Apron's life is full of surprises -- good and bad -- but her worldview always give you hope and a smile, even if it's sometimes through tears.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a beautiful and touching story June 25, 2012

By Amy L. Fournier

Format:Paperback

This book is not a book that I would have picked up on my own I don't think. The overview sounds good and it has a pretty cover, but it's nothing that really would grab my attention. That being said, I LOVED this book. It was beautiful and heartbreaking. It has some very serious issues in it, and a really great message. A few actually. I was immediately immersed in Apron's life and hoped needed to know that things would work out for her. This thirteen year old girl goes through so much in a few months and she still manages to hold it together. She is a very strong character, but she is also still just a young girl. This book made my heart ache.

Apron is such a great character. She is missing her mother who died, dealing with her new step mother who happens to be pregnant, and pretty much hates Apron and her father doesn't really help matters. He is forever siding with M as Apron calls her. She has lost her best friend to the popular girl and in general just feels so alone and sad. She ends up befriending Mike who owns a flower shop with his boyfriend Chad and after a while ends up helping them out there. This isn't without other complications though. Things at home aren't great, and the secret that Chad has is making things difficult at the flower shop too. If I was in Apron's situation there is no way I could have handled myself the way she does.

Apron's father is a Latin professor and tends to be really busy with school stuff even at home so he is more of an absent parent. It's not that he's not around, but he isn't there for Apron when she needs him mentally. He fails to see how horrible M is to her. He doesn't see how much Apron needs to know that he loves her and will be there for her. That he hasn't forgotten her for M and the new sibling that will be coming....

Mike and Chad are really great. I couldn't help but feel that if I were Apron's parent I wouldn't really feel comfortable with her hanging out with two grown men, gay or not, but I am really glad that she became friends with them and they became such a big part of her life. I loved how they were with her. They didn't treat her like a little girl. They would mention how she was a kid, but they respected her. Chad and Apron got a long great. They would spend hours together reading or telling jokes. Mike is a bit more serious, but he was still really great and if Apron needed something he was there for her.

Aside from them there are other really great characters and them some that I didn't care for much. I loved her grandmother. She was a riot. I didn't really like Rennie, Apron's ex BFF, but at that age that's just the way girls are. It was sad that Apron didn't really have any other friends, but if she did, I don't think that things would have developed the way the did with Mike and Chad. I also liked that the neighbors were brought into the story too.

This story was so touching and also heart shattering. As much as I knew what was coming it didn't stop me from bawling my eyes out. I literally had to put down the book and compose myself before I continued, only to start crying pages later. It was very emotional because of how invested I was in the story. I tend to be a very emotional reader so I expected that. What I didn't expect was that days later, even now, these characters are in my head. I just really loved this book. It is a beautiful and touching story that will stay with you. Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and miraculous February 27, 2012

By JT

Format:Paperback

Oh, what a novel! Apron navigates the rock terrain of loss with grit and real grace--and humor. The writing sparkles on the page and I guarantee the story will haunt you. In just one novel, Hummer establishes herself as a writer to watch.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Amazing May 29, 2012

By cupcake TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Holy cannoli.

This book made me cry, people. I actually wept - more than once!

The story is set during a summer in mid-80s Maine, as Apron Bramhall (yes, that is her name, and, no, it is not a nickname) struggles to deal with her mother's recent death. The nurse who tended her mother, Margie, whom Apron refers to as M, has moved into Apron's house and, apparently, into Apron's father's heart. As if Apron isn't upset enough about her father's budding romance, M wants to kill Apron's guinea pig, The Boss (named after my spiritual fiancé, Bruce Springsteen, and, no, that's not the only reason I like this book). What Apron (or 'Aprons,' as M calls her) needs is a best friend; alas, Rennie, the person who should fill that slot, has dumped Apron for someone with more social cachet.

Apron befriends Mike, whom she first encountered when he played the titular role in Jesus Christ, Superstar. Mike and his partner, Chad, run a florist shop, and as Apron's friendship with them grows, she begins working for them occasionally. This being the mid-80s, Mike and Chad's relationship is not embraced by the locals, and Chad is ill. I'll let you figure out from what.

There are some heartbreaking scenes, but some that make you laugh out loud as well. To whit: When I got to Scent Appeal, the door was open but the lights were off. Usually this meant Mike had gone out to get more flowers or something for Chad. Mike said today would be a busy one. We'd probably have to stay open late because people would be running in at the last minute to buy flowers for their Fourth of July parties, and if that happened, don't worry, he'd drive me home.... Mike had even bought a bag of tiny American flags, which I stuck into all the vases yesterday even though Chad said he'd rather have his fingernails peeled off than celebrate Reagan's crusty right-winged America. The real Boss was mad at Reagan, too, for singing "Born in the USA" without permission. The story was on the cover of my dad's newspaper. Even when Bruce Springsteen looks mad, he's still a fox.

Apron's voice rings true to a girl between 7th and 8th grade, and her sadness, frustration and isolation do as well. Aside from her name - it's not even an interesting gimmick - she's utterly captivating. I wanted to hug her. The supporting characters are finely drawn as well, even Apron's father, who, on occasion, I wished I could punch. The story here is just so good. You will start reading and not be able to put this down.

Please pick up Girl Unmoored. You will thank me later.

Published on cupcake's book cupboard. @VivaAmaRisata Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What does love mean to you? April 11, 2012

By K. Herbrand

Format:Paperback

Apron is just finishing up the seventh grade and has had a pretty rough year. Her mom passed away and her dad has started a relationship with Margie (or M, as Apron calls her). Margie is from Brazil and had been her mom's nurse, but now lives with Margie and her dad. She is on a work visa in the United States and Apron believes is looking for Mr. Right so that she will not have to leave. Meanwhile, that is all that Apron wants her to do -- leave.

To top it off, her best friend Rennie has decided that it is time for them to make other friends, so has pretty much abandoned her as well. Now M is pushing to get rid of The Boss, Apron's guinea pig! Before you can blink an eye, it is announced that she is pregnant and is marrying Apron's dad. She is not looking forward to summer having to be around M all the time!

As luck would have it, she is left in a church with her next door neighbor's nephew, who she had seen in the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. Apron was there as it was her dad's wedding day and Mike was there with his partner Chad decorating for a wedding. Together they ran a flower store called Scents Appeal. They enlisted Apron to help with the decorations and it was the beginning of a great friendship. It also opened Apron up to a world in the 80's that not a lot of people had experience with. At 13, it was a lot to handle. I don't want to say any more about it, as I don't want to spill Chad's secret.

It was really a coming-of-age story for Apron, as she learned to deal with the different ways that you can love people and that sometimes you didn't have to do anything for someone to hate you. This was Jennifer's debut novel and I can't wait to see what she writes next. I definitely look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

More About the Author

Jennifer Gooch Hummer is the award-winning author of her debut novel, Girl Unmoored. She has worked as a script analyst for various talent agencies and major film studios. Her short stories have been published in Miranda Magazine, Our Stories, and Glimmertrain. A graduate of Kenyon College, she has continued studies in the Writer's Program at UCLA, where she was nominated for the Kirkwood Prize in fiction. Currently, Jennifer lives in Southern California and Maine with her husband and their three daughters.