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***SPOILER WARNING!!!!***
Brent's a buddy of mine. He worked for many years in a group home much like the one in his book, and I think he nailed it pretty well.
I think the best part of this book is the fact that Lucy saves the day-- even though she's a foster kid. I get really frustrated with my profession as an author at times and the ways that foster kids seem to mostly be presented as "damaged" and "dark" and such. Some reviewers found fault with Brent's happy ending, saying it wasn't realistic, but I thought it was great. No, most teens don't get homes once they make it as far into the system as this kind of group home, but some do. I, for one, like the fact that it ends the way it did.
My only beef-- and I took this up with Brent-- is that all the main characters in this book are there because their parents are dead. No one was there because of neglect or abuse or anything. They all were true orphans. Brent said I was the only person to even bring that to his attention.
Other than that, its a great book.
~B.
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