This week, Portia took pity on her high-schooler big sister and filled in with a recommendation I've been dying to get to because I've heard great things about it. Portia's pick this week:
EXTRAORDINARY by Nancy Werlin
A frantic phone call from my sister this morning made me aware that in the homework she was doing last night, she forgot to do her book review this week, and waking up at 5:30 this morning to get ready for school didn't do much for her distraction either, so I decided to answer her plea and a review this week. :)
EXTRAORDINARY is a recent novel; I think it came out in September! [September 7th to be exact.] The basic story line revolves around this girl named Phoebe. Phoebe is a Rothschild--her mom is extraordinary, and her family is wealthy. They are rich, and love Phoebe, and she loves her parents. But, Phoebe has a secret wish to be ordinary. She doesn't want people to look at her an only see a name. She is uncomfortable with herself, self-conscious, and in a group of friends she hardly likes when she meets Mallory. Mallory is different. She dresses weird and hardly talks to anyone. In a impulsive move, Phoebe decides to befriend her. Mallory and Phoebe eventually become as close as sisters--practically a part of each other’s families.
Then Phoebe meets Mallory's older brother, Ryland. Phoebe is automatically drawn to Ryland, and she has no idea why. She just feels so much better when she's around him, even if he does make comments about her weight and tell her to grow up. Ryland and Phoebe secretly meet up and talk until Mallory finds out. She is furious, yells horrible insults and Phoebe, and their lives separate. Phoebe feels so low, but at least she still has Ryland. Then her support system starts to disappear.....her mom goes into a coma, her dad never leaves her side, and Mallory...Mallory is gone. Phoebe turns to Ryland with no one else to go to, but he only cuts her down until she feels ordinary. One day she breaks down and says it.
Phoebe never realized how much strength she had, and what it meant to admit how she felt. She never knew the consequences, but she is sucked into a bigger problem than she ever realized involving her family tree and a whole other species.....of faeries.
An exciting read that makes you think of what it means to be extraordinary. :)
On this date: In 1965, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is completed.
No comments:
Post a Comment