Review: Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Stealing Parker
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Pages: 245
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Contemporary
Release: October 1st 2012
Source: Raincoast Books
Buy the book at: Amazon | Indigo Chapters

Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

After a scandal rocks their conservative small town, 17-year-old Parker Shelton goes overboard trying to prove that she won't turn out like her mother: a lesbian. The all-star third-baseman quits the softball team, drops 20 pounds and starts making out with guys--a lot. But hitting on the hot new assistant baseball coach might be taking it a step too far...especially when he starts flirting back.

         Miranda Kenneally's novel Catching Jordan was a surprising debut that immediately got many fans on the YA contemporary lit world (count me among them). Like many of you, I've been eagerly anticipating Stealing Parker, Kenneally's second novel, and I was very lucky to received a review copy of it. Oh! and let me tell you that Stealing Parker doesn't disappoint at all even though at times it felt very similar to Catching Jordan.

         Parker is seventeen year-old girl (almost eighteenth) whose life crashed down when her mother came out and left home to go live with her girlfriend to another city. Parker, as a good christian girl, goes to church every Sunday with her father, brother (her mother used to go too) but when Parker's church friend heard about mother, they just turned against her. In addition, Parker was an excellent softball player but unfortunately, her team started bullying her and telling her like her mother, she was a lesbian too. Few months after quitting the team, she looses all that muscle weight and starts to make out with as many guys as she can just to demonstrate everybody that she is no lesbian like her mother. But then everything changes. She becomes the manager of the guys' baseball team (where Parker best friend plays) and meets the incredibly hot Coach's assistant Brian Hoffman. Oh, and by the way, he is six years older than her!

          I really enjoyed Stealing Parker but during the first half of the book I felt like I was reading Catching Jordan all over again. In Stealing Parker, there is this specific situation between the main character and two guys that it's pretty much identical in both novels. So, at one point I asked myself; is this going to be the same as Catching Jordan? is it going to end the same way? The answer was no, not at all. Stealing Parker has a unique message that individualize itself from Miss Kenneally's first novel regardless the things they have in common. In fact, some things are similar but Parker deals with much more serious issues than Jordan did. Themes such as homosexuality, dysfunctional family, alcoholism, sexuality, illegal relationships, religious beliefs and even high school gossip are part of this book. So Parker has definitely not an easy story to tell. Miranda Kenneally put a lot into this and I think she solved all of these issues wonderfully. But regardless all the dark topics presented in this novel, the tone of the book it's light enough to make it an enjoyable read instead of a dense and depressing one. So Yay Miss Kenneally! you gave me a relevant, serious and meaningful novel without going all dark and heavy on me. I loved the tone and the voice of this novel, so thanks so much for it!

         Stealing Parker it's about the consequences that our actions can have in our lives and the people around us. It is about forgiving, understanding, emotional support, accepting people the way they are and of course, LOVE! Stealing Parker is as good as Catching Jordan and even though until the first half of the book they may feel very similar, Stealing Parker is a novel that stand and bright on its own bringing a whole bunch of relevant themes and beautiful charming characters that readers will be delighted to meet.

Visit the author's website at http://mirandakenneally.com