"A Little Help from My Friends" by Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

About this book:

  “Zoe is used to being overlooked. As the youngest and shyest Miracle Girl, she was happy to fade into the background last year. But when she sheds her baby fat and shoots up four inches the summer before her junior year, everything changes. Now she's turning heads at school, and this new attention is beginning to strain her relationship with her sweet, serious boyfriend, Marcus. Pressure builds when Zoe's assigned partner for history class is Dean Marchese--a handsome New York transplant who isn't afraid to show her how he feels.
  Just when she needs her three best friends the most, the Miracle Girls are suffering from boy troubles of their own. Even Zoe's rock-solid home life begins to shake underneath her when her parents' relationship frays in the face of serious financial burdens. As this uncertain year of growing pains comes to a frenetic head, the quietest Miracle Girl must find her voice at long last and take control of her own destiny . . . with more than a little help from her friends.”


Series: Book #3 in “The Miracle Girls” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Prayers; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Going to youth group; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, youth group, & pastors; Mentions of miracles; Mentions of the Jesus movement; A few mentions of thanking God; A couple mentions of Christmas; A couple mentions of a cross necklace; A mention of Aaron in the Bible;

             *Note: A few mentions of being born again & former lives; A couple mentions of a girl meanly calling another girl “God Girl”; A mention of people having their own demons to fight; A mention of a girl being called “Satan in cashmere”; A mention of a devilish look.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘darn’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘jeez’, an ‘OMG’, a ‘screwed up’, a ‘shut up’, two ‘shoot’s, three forms of ‘oh my gosh’, four forms of ‘idiot’s, and twenty-seven ‘stupid’s, A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Christine calls her soon-to-be-stepmother “The Bimbo” (once);  Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Zoe recalls when she was dragged by a horse (up to semi-detailed); All about many mention of & the emotions of Zoe’s parents divorce, their fighting, & the stress of it all (*Spoiler* at the end, they decide to try again *End of spoiler*); Mentions of wars & slavery; Mentions of hatred & mean girls; Mentions of manure; A few mentions of a car accident & Christine’s mother’s death; A few mentions of vandalism; A few mentions of alcohol & drinking; A few mentions of puke; A couple mentions of lies & liars; A couple mentions of gossip & rumors; A mention of a suicide attempt; A mention of finding a body in the ocean; A mention of wanting to scratch someone’s eyes out; A mention of a bar;

             *Note: Zoe’s parents are ex-hippies who insist that she call them by their first names; Mentions of celebrities, singers, songs, TV shows, movies, books, & authors; Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of looking like a zombie; A mention of a clothing brand; A mention of Starbucks; A mention of a skull and crossbones sticker.

Sexual Content- an almost kiss (up to semi-detailed), two cheek kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Tingles, Embraces, Heat, Hand Holding, Winks, & Blushes (up to semi-detailed); Noticing, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Prom; Zoe has a boyfriend but starts to like and hand out with another guy (she says she has never cheated); Many mentions of boys, boyfriends, dating, dates, prom, crushes, cheating, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & kissing noises; A few mentions of seeing a couple making out; A few mentions of flirting & teens being all over each other; A mention of a couple not allowed to be in his room alone together; Teenage attraction, dating, & the emotions;

             *Note: Mentions of when Zoe used to be a little overweight (she does not like the word ‘fat’); Mentions of bras & underwear; A couple mentions of an outfit that’s tight but not too revealing; A couple mentions of cross-dressing in a play; A mention of a pain in the butt; A mention of lowering a butt to the ground; A mention of urinals.

-Zoe Fairchild, age 16
                                1^st person P.O.V. of  Zoe
                                                        ??? pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add a full star for girls in Public/Private School }

Even though this was not my favorite book in this series because of some of Zoe’s actions and attitudes--I understand due to what’s she’s going through, but most of the time it wasn't the right answer--it still was a good read. All the relationship stuff really didn’t interest me by the end, so I didn’t have an opinion on who Zoe should end up with, but I guess it ended well. Looking forward to finishing this series with reading the fourth book soon.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.