Bumped (Bumped #1) by Megan McCafferty

 Publisher:  Balzer and Bray
Date:  April 26, 2011
ISBN:  978-0061962745
Pages:  323


So the story is about twin girls named Melody and Harmony.  The girls were adopted in infancy by radically different families.  The girls take turns telling their stories by chapter.  Quite honestly, I found it hard to determine which one was which, for all that they were supposed to be so different - they didn't have their own voices.




The year is 2035 and once you hit 18 years old you aren't capable of reproducing.  There's a virus that kicks in at 18 apparently.  Therefore, teenagers are the Kings and Queens of society.  There are three groups of teens:

Reproductive Professionals:  surrogate mothers who are paired with hand-picked sperm donors and the babies go to wealthy families who pay for it.

Amateurs:  girls who pick their own partner and then either 'donate' the baby or put it on public auction.

Trubies:  members of the Church who don't believe in pre-marital sex or technology and marry young.

Of course Melody belongs to one group and Harmony belongs to a different group.

Things I didn't like:
 - the made up slang.  I don't mind a few new slang words, but this went over the top and became annoying.

 - I get that the story is satirical, but I still felt like the characters were too 'done up'.

 - The girls didn't seem to have separate voices, they sounded too similar  and I would get confused on who was with which group.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Publisher:  Scribner
Publish Date:  January 9, 2006
ISBN: 978-0743247542
Pages: 288


I don't generally read memoirs (true stories) but am trying to be more open-minded on what I read, so I gave this one a go.  The GLASSCASTLE is the story of a woman who grew up with 'different' parents.  To me, it's amazing that she and her siblings became who they are.

Jeannette's father was a drunk and a gambler and couldn't/wouldn't keep a job.  He wasn't above using his own children to 'get away' with things.  For instance, when she was a teenager, she had to play up to a grown man so that her dad could win money at a pool game.  When she got mad about it, her dad said that he knew she could handle herself and she did.  What kind of father does that?!

Jeannette's mother was a free spirit, an artist who believed that she could paint and write and just hadn't been discovered yet.  She also had a teaching certificate but hated to teach as it kept her from her artistic endeavors.

Both parents came across as fun at first, but they spiraled down to immaturity and selfishness as the story went on.  The fact that all the children made it out and made something of themselves is a miracle.  Ms. Walls, at times, seems like she's trying to say "but it was fun at times!" to make it all better; but it's not okay.

What really gets me is that these children never had a chance to really truly be children.  I sympathize as I grew up having parents that were immature and by an early age, I was also taking care of things that I shouldn't have.  Of course, these children had it much worse than I could ever imagine.  This is one that's worth reading.  There is a prequel that goes on to show how Jeannette's mother grew up, I'm interested to see what insight that will give.