Maggie Come Lately: A Novel with Bonus Content [Kindle Edition]

Michelle Buckman (Author)

Book Description

While most girls are going to parties, Maggie is busy acting as mother and housewife to her two brothers and father. When she turns 16, Maggie hopes it will be a great year. But then she hears a noise in the woods that takes her on a path that changes her life forever.

Includes bonus chapter taken from My Beautiful Disaster by Michelle Buckman.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It was amazing. I loved it! Despite everything that's going on, I had time to read another amazing book by Michelle Buckman. With Maggie Come Lately, I was completely drawn in by her characters and real-life issues that she tackled in the story. In her second book, My Beautiful Disaster, she drew me in even more with her compelling story about Maggie's best friend-turned-sister, Dixie. In

Dixie's story, she goes through love, loss, fear, and

redemption. I can honestly say that I felt Dixie's emotions when I read her words. I felt my chest puff up with pride as if I knew her myself. I felt connected. I could not put the book down for three days straight. You want a good read? You're looking at it." -- Jordin Sparks, American Idol winner 2007

That wise and wonderful Southern writer, Lee Smith, once observed, "I was at a point in my life where all my friends, women I had grown up with, were suddenly floundering, because we were following someone else's idea of who we ought to be and what we ought to do."

I remembered Lee Smith's remark soon after I began reading Michelle Buckman's excellent new novel, "Maggie Come Lately." How well it dramatizes the predicament of young Maggie McCarthy. We are present at that moment when she was four years old and her entire life shifted. We meet her later in present time - a perfect daughter, a perfect substitute mother to her siblings, a perfect student, and a perfect friend. There is only one problem. Influenced by to the pressure of society, submitting to the circumstance of her position in the family, responding to every demand made upon her to conform to what is expected of her, Maggie has neglected to become her true self.

That voyage of self-discovery begins on her sixteenth birthday when she first assumes the role of surrogate mother to her orphaned siblings, of willing housekeeper to her widower father, of compliant friend to her schoolmates. Under Mrs. Buckman's skilled hand we live through Maggie's longing for someone to love her and her eventual discovery of that love. We share her dismay when her father courts a totally inappropriate second wife, and we experience along with Maggie's her deep concern when a younger brother begins to retreat from life.

A shocking event early on, the murder of one of her classmates, shadows the action and the fabric of the book. The suspense is intense for a work primarily intended for youthful readers, but the author knows what she is doing and the reader is compelled to keep reading until the surprising climax.

While this book is directed toward a younger readership it can also prompt each of us to reflect on who we are and how we got that way. As Lee Smith asks, "Are we someone else's idea of who we ought to be," or are we our true selves? -- Earl Hamner, Creator of The Waltons and Falcon Crest, author of Spencers Mountain and The Homecoming

From the Back Cover

Maggie isn’t exactly popular. In fact, she’s pretty much invisible. While most girls are going to parties with boyfriends, she’s busy acting as mother and housewife to her two brothers and father. But what she really wants is to be noticed by her brother’s friend Webb. Unfortunately, he’s dating the school’s hottest cheerleader.

When her sixteenth birthday comes along, Maggie makes a wish: Please, Lord, let sixteen be a great year; let me be pretty and popular and let Webb . . . it’s too big a dream to even put the rest into words. Then she hears a noise in the woods that she can’t ignore and takes a path that changes her life forever.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 601 KB
• Print Length: 340 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 160006082X
• Publisher: Navpress (February 28, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007F0IYOW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #509,075 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great novel for Christian teens and their parents January 18, 2010

By K. Groth

Format:Paperback

I really enjoyed this novel and it was such a page-turner that I stayed up all night reading it.

The story centered around Maggie though was unusually told in the third-person. She is 16 going on 36 as she takes care of her dad and two younger teen brothers since her mom committed suicide 12 years ago. I felt empathy for her as I am the oldest of three. She is grounded in her faith which I find encouraging.

She grapples with her emerging vulnerability with men and deals with awareness of rape and molestation around her. The hard issues are told without being gratuitous.

The ending is good though I would have liked more closure with some of the other characters in the story.

I recommend this novel for Christian teens and their parents. Though it wasn't too preachy and can be read by people of all or no faiths.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More like 4.5 stars. This is a gritty novel, but I love that. April 13, 2009

By Michelle Sutton

Format:Paperback

In Maggie Come Lately, Michelle Buckman got all of her facts right. The tension is very well done and the conflict develops at just the right pace. The title even fits the story. It's hard to say why it fits without giving any spoilers so I will dance around the facts a bit and say this-- more than once I wanted to shake Maggie and say, "It's right under your nose." But on the other hand, she was well-portrayed because most people don't see abuse that is right under their noses either.

The character, Maggie, was a likeable character with realistic issues. I know, because my childhood was a lot like Maggie's. I had to do a lot of things in our home that my mother couldn't because she was bedridden with MS. I remember feeling like Maggie did, like I was responsible for so much stuff that I missed most of my childhood. So that struck a real chord in me. The author also did an amazing job at showing how boy/girl relationships should be based on mutual interests, and not just related to kissing, attraction, popularity, etc.

One last point--I loved how the author showed how that sometimes when you get what you "think" you want, whenever it's at the expense of someone else's pain, then it loses it's attractivness quickly. Maggie Come Lately was a great read and I'd highly recommend it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so much November 2, 2011

By Nicole

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished this book last night. The murder mystery in it was interesting, but that is about all I can say about this book that I liked. As the main character, I found Maggie both pretentious and annoying. She preached to everyone and looked down upon them, all while saying how she didn't like those kinds of people. My favorite part was probably when she went to a party and then got drunk off of ONE beer (complete with hangover in the morning). She kept putting herself in stupid situations, like going out into the woods with her dog alone (her reasoning was that she went off because of her "fiery Irish temper") after there had been a rape there only weeks ago. I could understand that she had grown up as the makeshift "mother" in her household, caring for both her father and her two younger brothers, but she was much too self-deprecating and preachy for my liking. I like books with a Christian message, but this wasn't really one of them (thought it tried to be). Honestly, pass on this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Plodding and preachy... August 3, 2011

By Steve's Girl

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I almost didn't post my review, since I have such a drastically different opinion than other reviewers. I still feel bad for not liking this book, as silly as that sounds, but good HEAVENS, it seemed like it took for-e-ver for anything at ALL to happen in this book. The minute description of every single little thing, all leading up to endlessly anti-climactic moments...it all just wore me out.

Another reviewer commented that the story was "gritty". Yes, some bad things happened to Maggie, but overall this felt like a fairy-tale version of a teenager's life. When the story began, the family was so poor they could only buy one jug of apple juice a week, and only had crackers to eat. Then suddenly, there's money for a new washer, they're having roast beef for dinner, and it turns out the father plays poker every week AND has been dating on the sly. We all know that dating is never cheap.

Another point that really bugged me was how the author portrayed Maggie's experience at a party; she has ONE beer (and becomes understandably tipsy), but by the next day, it's turned into a "drunken spectacle" and Maggie has a raging hangover. Come ON!

If you're under 12, or if you've never read anything "grittier" than Anne of Avonlea or the Little House books, then you will LOVE this. If you're an adult and prefer something a little more true to life, I'd recommend you pass on this one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Young women will easily identify with Maggie's high school struggles May 24, 2007

By Armchair Interviews

Format:Paperback

(First of the series, The Pathway Collection.)

The story opens with 4-year-old Maggie McCarthy witnessing her mother's suicide. Fast-forward a dozen years and the narrative picks up as Maggie, now 16, serves as caretaker for her father and two brothers, essentially running the entire household and keeping the family together.

When Maggie discovers the sexual assault of a classmate, her life begins to change in unexpected ways. Maggie goes from "socially invisible" to being one of the most popular teens in her school. Hailed as a hero for her role in helping the victim, Maggie finds that she is not comfortable in the spotlight, even as her popularity increases and her social standing moves upward.

The author writes convincingly as she describes the emotional landscape of a 16-year-old girl. Maggie can't seem to get along with her father's new girlfriend. Newly popular Maggie has a date with a popular guy from school: the evening tests her commitment to personal purity. You'll easily connect with Maggie's struggles as her values and even her identity are in flux.

In the scenes that follow the sexual assault, we watch as God literally "works all things for His good." By her own admission, a maturing Maggie begins to figure out who she is and what she believes. Now that she's coming into her own, she is "Maggie-come-lately."

Michelle Buckman writes with wisdom and understanding about the trauma of being a teen girl, creating a compelling story with multiple plot lines to keep the reader involved and interested. Readers, especially young females, will enjoy this book and will easily identify with Maggie McCarthy.

Armchair Interviews says: Strong message for young women readers.

More About the Author

Michelle Buckman is an award-winning author of six novels. Her stories have been termed "Grit Lit" as they offer compelling perspectives on contemporary issues. Michelle also an international speaker, writing workshop instructor, and magazine editor. Walking on the beach is her favorite pastime and her greatest source of inspiration.