Sorta...

I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. Then I met Amber Appleton, the main character. She's smart, spunky and very loveable. And she has lots of problems like most YA heroines. She lives in a school bus with her crazy mother. Amber volunteers in a nursing home and in a local Korean church and inspires everyone. It's all very Sarah Dessen esque until...

BAM

Her mother is raped and murdered by someone who should have been on an episode of SVU. Amber gets sorta depressed and angry and cuts everyone off. Of course this had to happen, right? I mean, a story without tragedy is boring. But, wait, wasn't she already homeless??

Fine.

But then she turns into friggin Pollyanna and the whole town comes together to save her from her penniless existence.

I don't know, it all seems a little too candy coated to me. I loved Amber and her crazy friends and her wacknut dog, BBB, but I felt like I'd slipped into an episode of cheesy television by the end. I really wanted it to be more realistic and satifying ... more like Honey Baby Sweetheart. Alas, it just slipped into cheesy sweetness.

It was a light read and sorta funny, so I'd recommend it as a Sarah Dessen read alike or Deb Caletti- lite.