Girl Unmoored

by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

Apron Bramhall has come unmoored. Fortunately, she's about to be saved by Jesus. Not that Jesus-the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ Superstar. Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike, who's suddenly everywhere, until she's stuck in church with him one day. Then something happens-Apron's broken teenage heart blinks on for the first time since she's been adrift. Mike and his boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, and Apron's world seems to calm. But when she uncovers Chad's secret, stormy seas return.

• ISBN10: 1936558300
• ISBN13: 9781936558308
• Publish Date: 6 March 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Fiction Std, E Book
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 325
• Language: English

Reviews

[elvinagb]

It's hard enough to be a girl between grade 7 and 8, but Apron (that's her real name) Bramhill has lost her mom, her best friend and her dad already has a new girlfriend, the mean and dreaded "M". Apron's summer is looking bleak as her dad marries M and she has to give up her pet, "The Boss". But when Apron meets Mike, an actor and flower shop owner (who has a striking resemblance to Jesus) and his boyfriend Chad she not only manages to find her calling as a flower arranger, but gets a part time job and two new best friends. But Chad is very ill, her dad's marriage and impending fatherhood are on rocky ground and Apron still hates her freckles and red hair. This coming of age story is full of tears and laughter and lessons for all of us no matter our age. I was left with more than a few tears and an appreciation of the Latin I learned in high school.

[jeannamichel]

Apron is a girl that has too much going on in her life. Her mother died of cancer when she was young and her father is about to remarry this loser from Brazil, Margie. To make matters worse, her best friend is ditching her to be popular and one of her new friends may not survive the summer. Girl Unmoored is a fantastic story about learning to accept things that one may not be ready for.

When I first read what this book was about, I wasn’t entirely sure about what type of book this was. It sounded ironic and cute. I mean, look at the cover: I immediately think, cute. After reading it and being very wrong on the first impression, I discovered that Girl Unmoored is so much more than cute, it details this young girl going through some mature situations and dealing with them the only way she knows how.

There was such a diverse mix of characters. Mike was Apron’s savior, quite literally, and was easily one of the nicest characters in the book. Mike’s partner, Chad, was sick with AIDS and after Apron had to watch her mother go in a similar fashion, the parallels between the two helped Apron grow. Apron’s father was a Latin professor, teaching Apron the language every chance he got, even to speak things that he was too ashamed or upset with to say in English. Apron was our narrator, whisking its readers on a ride of emotions. One problem I had with the book was that, at first, I could not figure out how old Apron was. I knew she was young but I must have missed the first time her age was mentioned because it confused me quite a bit. She would be so mature one minute and then would be worrying about something that did not concern older people. To clear up anything, she is in seventh grade and it is almost the summer. I had to come back to this mental note again and again, because she deals with so much more than a normal seventh grader and that component is what made the book shine most for me (not that she dealt with these situations at such a young age, but how she thought and felt about these events).

Hummer knew how to make these awful circumstances and tragic events seem real. I struggled in the beginning, not really latching onto the book as much as I had hoped. By the end, however, I was to tears; Girl Unmoored moved me deeply and refused to let me go until the very last page. Jennifer Gooch Hummer took something that may or may not have happened to some of us, and turned it into a seventh grader’s struggle to discover where she stands in the world.

Girl Unmoored is a coming of age story with a young girl, Apron, who needs to be saved. This story will take its readers on a rollercoaster of emotions and leave them crying by the end.

Rating:

Cover: 3
Characters: 4
Writing Style: 4
Plot: 3
Ending: 5

Overall: 4