Waiting on Wednesday: Pearl by Jo Knowles

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

And we're back with Waiting on Wednesday! While this cover is very reminiscent of Matched by Ally Condie, I love its simplicity! Also, who couldn't resist a main character with a name like Bean? Pearl by Jo Knowles is scheduled for a July 19th release & I can't wait until we get our copies for the library. Read the blurb:

Bean (née Pearl) and Henry, misfits and best friends, have the strangest mothers in town. Henry’s mom Sally never leaves the house. Bean’s mom Lexie, if she is home, is likely nursing a hangover or venting to her friend Claire about Bean’s beloved grandfather Gus, the third member of their sunny household.

Gus’s death unleashes a host of family secrets that brings them all together. And they threaten to change everything—including Bean’s relationship with Henry, her first friend, and who also might turn out to be her first love.

From Goodreads

Apparently I'm in a realistic fiction mood because this sounds very alluring. Having a boy as a best friend growing up I'm truly interested in seeing the dynamics of their relationship. I remember other kids constantly picking on us because "boys & girls couldn't be best friends." I'm sure we both have very fond memories of playing soldiers with nerf guns & splashing around in the kiddie pool. Even more alluring than the friendship is the familial relationship. All in all I'm extremely curious.

What are you waiting on this week?

Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles

All Ellie wanted was what most other girls seemed to get: someone to love her. With oblivious parents and a stoner for a brother, Ellie hangs out with her best friend Corinne. The girls may not be the uber-popular, cheerleader type, but they do manage to go to a few parties. Corinne is dying to hook-up with someone and finds herself jealous of all the attention that Ellie garners.

At the last party, Corinne comes out to find Josh leaving Ellie in the backseat of his dad's van and then Ellie getting sick. What felt meaningful and special to Ellie was just a "no big deal" event to Josh. Unfortunately for both of them it becomes a big deal when Ellie realizes she is pregnant.

Gathering her strength to make up her mind about what to do, Ellie tries to make it through the rest of the school year with the help of Corinne, Corinne's new confidante Caleb, and Caleb's mom. What happens when the unthinkable happens?

Jo Knowles knows her stuff. This poignant tale looks at teen pregnancy in a real and believable light. It's not just about what happens to the mother and the baby; there is a whole community involved when a teen gets pregnant. In this book we get to see it from the best friend's perspective, the father's perspective, and the reactions of those indirectly involved. I could definitely sympathize with the main character and with the father throughout the entire story and I really liked how the characters overlapped just enough that when you transitioned from one narrator to the next you could still keep up with the storyline. While not a necessarily cheerful story, this cautionary tale might give the reader a sense of what else goes on around a situation like this. A job well done.