Miracle Girls #2: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: A Miracle Girls Novel [Paperback]

Anne Dayton (Author), May Vanderbilt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Miracle Girls | Publication Date: April 16, 2009

Ana, Christine, Riley, and Zoe have grown closer than ever over the past few months, but summer is over and it's time to put their friendship to the test.
It's been a little over a year since Christine Lee's mom passed away in a tragic car accident. Now her dad is engaged to Candace--"The Bimbo"--and Christine couldn't be less thrilled. When her attitude starts to take a toll on her schoolwork, the administration forces her to attend counseling sessions. At least she gets to skip gym class!
But with her father's wedding inching closer, Christine is growing even more bitter. To make matters worse, the Miracle Girls are beginning to drift apart. Christine's anger and the pressures of high school threaten to break the girls up when they need each other the most. Will they find a way to join together to help Christine come to terms with her mother's death . . . and her father's remarriage?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[E]xcellent life lessons, as well as strong themes of friendship and faith, throughout." (Romantic Times on The Miracle Girls )

"Fun, witty, and intelligent. It was a pleasure to meet this interesting mix of characters. Their struggles to form friendships and fit in were refreshingly realistic. Teen readers will enjoy and relate to this story." (author of the Diary of a Teenage Girl series, on The Miracle Girls Melody Carlson )

About the Author

Anne Dayton graduated from Princeton and has her MA in Literature from New York University. She lives in New York City. May Vanderbilt graduated from Baylor University and has an MA in Fiction from Johns Hopkins. She lives in San Francisco. Together, they are the authors of Emily Ever After, Consider Lily, and The Book of Jane.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords; 1 edition (April 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446407569
• ISBN-13: 978-0446407564
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,289,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding young adult fiction, May 12, 2009

By 

Fierce Beagle (Winston-Salem, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miracle Girls #2: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: A Miracle Girls Novel (Paperback)

Anne and May capture the essence of contemporary teenagers--their sense of humor; their complicated relationships with friends, family and parents; and their struggle to develop beliefs and values. The authors don't dumb down their language or weigh down their prose with out of place "teenisms." In short, Anne and May just get teenagers. Their main character, Christine, is realistic and engaging. This second book in the Miracle Girls series is another example of Anne and May's stellar writing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, funny, insightful, May 8, 2009

By 

R. Darden - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miracle Girls #2: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: A Miracle Girls Novel (Paperback)

As always, our heroes have come up with another fast-paced tale, one that's well-told, believable, and often laugh-out-loud funny. It's a fun read for any age -- which is a tribute to the talented authors. Nicely done!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely likeable character and story, May 6, 2009

By 

Serenity Bohon (Kirksville, MO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miracle Girls #2: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: A Miracle Girls Novel (Paperback)

For the Miracle Girls' sophomore year, we hear their story through the voice of Christine, a unique member of the group who lost her mother in a car accident the year before and has struggled with a sense of loss that affects even her personal identity. This is evidenced through her unique look, her somewhat lonely place in high school, and weekly sessions with the school counselor. Christine tells us the Miracle Girls had a great summer of bonding, but from the first page we see they might struggle to stay together through the school year. Sure enough, Riley and Ana compete with each other over school, all the girls have their own issues with family, and each of them sometimes chooses a boy over the group.

Christine, however, needs the group more than anything. Her father is marrying a woman she sees only as The Bimbo. Her step-sister to-be has moved into her room. She can't bring herself to talk about her mother's death in the accident Christine miraculously survived, and she gives her already fragile heart to a boy who may be less than careful with it. If the Miracle Girls can't come together and be there for her when she needs them, Christine may be lost for good.

Christine has far more doubt than faith throughout the book, and I appreciated the way this was not neatly resolved through typical answers and cliches. However, the efforts by God to keep Christine are so evident and moving. He is evident through the memories of her mother and in the help of a few important people in Christine's life.

Christine's journey in this book is beautiful and poignant. The Miracle Girls represent a kind of friendship every person needs and so few of us actually have.