7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Miss Independent, March 31, 2006
This review is from: The Pursuit of Happiness (Paperback)
In this dramatic and engaging story, a teenage girl named Betsy is grief-stricken when her mother loses her battle with cancer. Though Betsy typically gets along well with her younger brother and father, her mother's death causes the family members to pull apart quietly, each dealing with the loss in his or her own way.
Summer has a lot of other changes in store for Betsy. Her boyfriend dumps her shortly after her mother's funeral. Her best friend Mary may not be her best friend any longer. Her job at the colonial village, where she has to dress up and play the part of the dutiful daughter, becomes more intriguing due to her co-workers Liza (complete with piercings and a bad reputation) and James (apprentice by day, surfer by night). She also finds herself with a new hobby: cutting silhouettes out of paper.
As Betsy struggles with the five stages of grief, she occasionally falters, then later regrets what she said or did. Altebrando infuses her main character with a strong spirit. Betsy never stops trying to get back on her feet, and readers will cheer her on.
This book moves along at a steady pace, with a first-person narrative enabling the reader to get inside Betsy's head. The coming-of-age tale greatly benefits from the summertime setting. The realistic dialogue will meet the approval of teen and adult readers.
Tara Altebrando has written a wonderful tale about love, loss, family, and finding yourself. This is definitely one of the best books I've read this year, and I highly recommend it. If you enjoy The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, The Alison Rules by Catherine Clark, or Good Grief by Lolly Winston, you will undoubtedly enjoy The Pursuit of Happiness.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, July 18, 2006
This review is from: The Pursuit of Happiness (Paperback)
According to the book On Death and Dying by Elsabeth Kubler-Ross, the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. If you ask Betsy Irving, though, Elsabeth got it all wrong. The five stages of grief are really agitation, intoxication, experimentation, resignation, and reinvigoration. Betsy's known for awhile that her mother is going to die. After all, with the type of breast cancer that her mother has, and the late stage that it's in, there's not a lot that can be done. But it's still a shock that hot, sticky Thursday in June when she leaves work at the Morrisville Historic Village early when her Aunt Patty and Uncle Jim show up to escort her home. Now her mother is gone, the funeral is over, the well-meaning guests have left, and it's just Betsy, her dad, and her younger brother, Ben, taking up space in the huge white Victorian house that they call home.
In the beginning, Betsy's friends have only her best interests at heart, and her first real boyfriend, Brandon, tries to be there for her, but Betsy still feels as if nothing in her life is working out as planned. And when said friends seem to disappear off the face of the earth, and Brandon turns out not to be the great boyfriend she had hoped for when he dumps her, things in Betsy's life get even more off-kilter. As if it wasn't bad enough that she's spending the summer working at the Village (which she knows was a trick devised by her history-loving, professor father), dressed in stifling Early American clothes and demonstrating cornbread making to eager tourists, now she has to do it alone, without any real friends or a supportive boyfriend--and in the presence of Liza Henske, whose Goth Girl shield isn't allowed at the Village.
It's amazing, though, what a new sort-of friend like Liza can teach a girl who just wants to get away form it all. And when James, the Village carpenter who will soon be leaving for Princeton, begins to comfort her with his soft-spoken words and small carvings, Betsy starts to learn that no matter what the actual stages of grief are, she just might be able to survive them after all.
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS is a poignant, heartfelt novel. It's one of the best books I've read dealing with grief, with dialogue that never seems out of place or too cheesy. Ms. Altebrando has written a stunning debut novel that will leave you thinking about the story of Betsy and her family and friends long after you've finished the book.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Happiness found?, March 25, 2006
This review is from: The Pursuit of Happiness (Paperback)
Tara Altebrando did a great job writing a teen book that isn't like all the others (Gossip Girl, It Girl, A-List, etc.). The Pursuit of Happiness is all about a teen named Betsy who's trying to figure out why life is the way it's turned out to be. Her mother just passed away and she's confused and torn apart. Her boyfriend just broke up with her for another girl. Her summer job is her only escape from reality.
If you're a fan of Sarah Dessen's writing then for sure you'll like this book. If you're looking for fluffy teen books, I suggest to look elsewhere.
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