Book Review: "Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks"

After having read the quirky Internet Girls series by Lauren Myracle and finding out that she's written a whole entire myriad of other books as well, I decided I was curious and wanted to see just what else she could write, apart from the IM-style books. With a title like this one beckoning to my inner hippie-girl, I had to grab this book from the library shelf. And I'll tell you what, I wasn't at all disappointed.

This book, I swear, practically sums up what my teenage existence was like. Here's this teenage girl named Carly who lives in a private, upper class, privileged neighborhood; attends a very proper, very religious, very private Catholic school; but shuns the norms of society. She embraces being different and all that comes with it. She doesn't want to be a Barbie doll; she's a free-spirit and wants to be understood for being her own unique person. She embraces all things 1960's, from the slang to the styles to, especially, the music. People thinks she's weird, and sometimes she gets laughed at for being so different, but underneath it all, she has a good heart and is a sweet person.

She stands out like a sore thumb even in her own family. Her parents are all pomp and circumstance, while her little sister Anna thinks she's a freak for essentially wanting to be a hippie. She herself embodies all things girly and stereotypically teenage girl.

Over the course of one summer, while Carly had been away volunteering her time, Anna seemingly grew up overnight. No, more specifically, her boobs grew up overnight, and suddenly she was the hot girl that everyone either wanted to be or be with. Carly has to adjust to becoming known as "Anna's sister" instead of her own person. While Anna's trying to grasp growing up and not being a little kid anymore, Carly feels the strain that this inevitably puts on their what had always been close relationship. Such is often the case with siblings.

The book is about relationships of all sorts, growing up, and staying true to yourself. It's a VERY cute story (and even brought tears to my eyes a couple of times towards the end) and I'd HIGHLY recommend it. This book gets a full 5 out of 5 star rating from me!