Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

I've learned that being real and honest with yourself means doing what you think is right whether it goes with the flow(not a bad thing) or not. It's exactly what everyone else is trying to do.

I don't think that people understand that being 'real' is the new fad. They think that doing the opposite from everyone else makes them different and unique. I've seen that this is a common mistake among people. Carly wants to be real in the midst of the fakeness surrounding her, but she confuses 'realness' with trying to go against everything and everyone else. The extremely rich neighborhood and school she goes to in Atlanta are the exact opposite of real.

South.Ĭarly wants to hold on to the realness that she felt when she was in Tennessee during the summer. A few more pages into the book though and I could see where it was heading. I could relate to the exact feelings that she was describing. The very beginning of the book opens with Carly writing a letter to her sister Anna and I could totally understand what she was trying to say. At the very beginning I had great hope for her. I liked her, then I got annoyed, then mad, then annoyed again, then I finally liked her again (but not as much as I first did). Ages 12 up.My whole 'relationship' with the main character was strange. The conclusion gets emotionally overwrought with a teary scene in which the sisters turn into 'a puddle of ridiculous-ness,' but mostly readers will find both the characters and their problems genuine. She realizes, though, that she is jealous of Anna's looks even though 'I'm her big sister, who should be above such things.' As the sisters get different friends and interests, Carly spends less time with Anna, and they find themselves saying mean things and betraying each other (Anna even hooks up with Carly's crush). Carly stands up for her softer sister often (telling their mom to stop treating curvy Anna like she is fat, for example). The sisters, who live in an exclusive Atlanta neighborhood, both attend 'the most prestigious prep school in the South,' but while narrator Carly thrives on being an individual, Anna's pretty face and developing body earn her a different kind of attention.

An honest narrator grounds this sweet story about two sisters learning to accept their differences and help each other grow up.

Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle