49. A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life - Dana Reinhardt

Listened to in the car back & forth from the first days of school
Audio read by Mandy Siegfried - and she was great
5 unabridged cds (5:30)
2006 Listening Library/ Wendy Lamb Books
240 pgs.
YA CRF (there's a bit of s-e-x)
Finished 8/8/2014
Goodreads rating: 3.76
My rating:    (4.5) I really loved it
TPPL
contemporary suburban Boston

My comments:  I found this to be a wonderful story. I loved it. The protagonist, Simone, seems genuine and real; a "typical" (whatever that is) American teenager. Her doubts, her questions about life, her constant questioning about her own feelings, her jumping to conclusions about the way boys feel about her....Reinhardt seems spot on. I love the information that was included about Judaism - which would probably be boring for an already-Jew, but would be fascinating for any non-Jew interested in learning about other cultures. My only (tiny) problem with the story is that Simone's parents allow her, a 16-year old, to drive into the city of Boston all by herself from the suburbs. I, as a past-resident of the Boston suburbs - and a parent - know this would be something that most parents I've ever encountered would never allow. Ever. And driving all the way to the Cape.....alone??? Ah, well.....Super story nonetheless.

Goodreads book summary:  Simone’s starting her junior year in high school. Her mom’s a lawyer for the ACLU, her dad’s a political cartoonist, so she’s grown up standing outside the organic food coop asking people to sign petitions for worthy causes. She’s got a terrific younger brother and amazing friends. And she’s got a secret crush on a really smart and funny guy–who spends all of his time with another girl.
          Then her birth mother contacts her. Simone’s always known she was adopted, but she never wanted to know anything about it. She’s happy with her family just as it is, thank you. 
          She learns who her birth mother was–a 16-year-old girl named Rivka. Who is Rivka? Why has she contacted Simone? Why now? The answers lead Simone to deeper feelings of anguish and love than she has ever known, and to question everything she once took for granted about faith, life, the afterlife, and what it means to be a daughter.