My life off-key

Gail Anderson-Dargatz, 1963-

Book - 2024

"Seventeen-year-old Jen is shocked to discover that the dad she grew up with is not her biological father. Jen loves to sing. But the rest of her family can't carry a tune. When a stranger named Mike gives her roses at her concert and reveals that he is her birth father, Jen's world flips upside down. Mike is a musician, just like Jen, and now she understands why she looks nothing like Steve, the only dad she's ever known. When Steve learns the truth Jen's mom has been hiding all these years, he moves out, and Jen can't help but feel responsible. Worse, she doesn't know who she is anymore. It feels like her whole life has been a lie. Is Steve still her dad? What about Mike? When it feels like her family is... falling apart, Jen doesn't know where she belongs"--Publisher's website.

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YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Anderson-Dargatz, Gail
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Young Adult New Shelf YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Anderson-Dargatz, Gail (NEW SHELF) Checked In
Subjects
Genres
High interest-low vocabulary books
Novels
Young adult fiction
Published
[Victoria, British Columbia] : Orca Book Publishers 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Gail Anderson-Dargatz, 1963- (author)
Item Description
"Ultra-readable page turner"--Page 4 of cover.
Physical Description
81 pages ; 19 cm
Issued also in electronic format
Audience
RL 1.4.
ISBN
9781459834798
9781518297328
Contents unavailable.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A teen faces challenges after learning her dad is not her biological father. After Jen's performance at her high school talent show, she's discomfited when an older man in the audience gives her roses--and completely thrown when he tells her that his name is Mike, and he's her father. Jen already has a dad, Steve, but her mom confirms that she had an affair with Mike, that he's Jen's biological father, and that Steve doesn't know. The entire family, including Ella, Jen's 9-year-old sister, must deal with the fallout, especially when Steve moves out. Jen struggles with questions about her identity, whether she's at fault for the problems in her parents' marriage, and if she still has a place in her family. But as she gets to know Mike and his son, her half brother, Jack, and learns about things they have in common, both large (she and Mike are talented musicians) and small (she, Mike, and Jack have the same favorite ice cream flavor), she realizes that she's the same person, and her family is expanding, not shrinking. This accessible novel for reluctant readers puts its protagonist into a high-drama situation; the portrayals of Jen and the other characters do an excellent job of modeling reflecting on one's emotions, asking direct questions, and sharing their feelings with others. Jen and her family read white. Both a coming-of-age story and a road map for processing difficult emotions. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.