About this book:
“School’s out!
Addie Brown has survived her first year in London. Now she can’t wait to ditch her tie, chuck her school shoes, “Mary and Jane”, under the bed, and forget all about Math(s) for six glorious weeks back home. As she flies off to Chicago to visit Aunt Becky and reconnect with best friend Lauren she wonders if this could be: The. Best. Summer. Ever?
But nothing’s ever straightforward for Addie. Blindsided by Dad’s surprise new girlfriend, Addie arrives at summer camp only to discover London has followed her there. Join Addie as she navigates family dynamics, messy friendships and even a bear, all with a little help from the mysterious lady in the green hat.”
Series: The sequel to “The Girl on the Tube”. Review Here!
Spiritual Content- A handful prayers and talking to God (including apologizing to God for doing something bad); Church going (once); ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Addie and her father don’t go to church often after her mother died, but they go with her aunt (which Addie enjoys and listens to the preacher’s sermon about praying); Addie doesn’t know much about God, but knows He exists because of all the wonderful things in nature & notices that she has been praying to God in different moments because she doesn’t know “who else” would she be talking to; Addie recalls her mom praying with her before bed and feeling safe when she would do that; Addie wonders if she can pray about missing her mom and could tell God she’s angry at Him for “taking her away”; When in a dangerous situation, Addie prays to God for help and a sudden gust of wind leads her to a safe direction (and later says that she thinks God was watching over her); When her aunt accidentally swears, she apologize to Addie and to God, which Addie notes about it being like her aunt was talking to God as if He was right there with them (Addie’s aunt comments that she messes up every day, but “God is good…He forgives.”); Addie tells God all about her concerns and feelings despite thinking “He must know about everything already” because He’s God, but maybe He is interested in hearing about it all from her personally; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, talking to God, & blessings over food; A few mentions of churches, church going on holidays, a preacher, & a sermon; A mention of an event in the Bible;
*Note: Addie wonders if someone has appeared in front of her like a fairy godmother or an angel; A woman is described as “otherworldly”; Mentions of luck & being lucky; A couple mentions of Addie being “spellbound” by something; A couple mentions of a Greek mythology character (Narcissus); A mention of a girl being in “heaven” when doing something she likes.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘rats’, four ‘dumb’s, and seven forms of ‘stupid’; A few mentions of a curse (said, not written; the adult apologizes to Addie and God for saying it); Eye rolling; Addie lies & gossip (including talking badly about a girl and saying that they aren’t friends; Towards the end, *Spoilers* Addie realizes she’s done more than just stealing, but also snapped and yelled at family members & gossip and lied *End of Spoilers*); Addie snaps at others & can be disrespectful and rude (including to adults like her dad, her aunt, and her dad’s girlfriend); Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Crying & Grief (Addie for her mother and what their lives could have been if she was still alive; up to semi-detailed); A dangerous situation with being trapped between a mother bear and her cubs (which makes Addie and another girl think they could die or be seriously hurt, up to semi-detailed); Addie steals an item from someone and feels guilt about it (*Spoilers* She steals her dad’s girlfriend’s sunglasses and justifies it at first as taking something like the girlfriend stole Addie’s day with her dad & how it’s Addie “winning” against the woman; Addie denies knowing where they are, lies about them, & hides them for the summer; Addie starts to feel guilt about taking and hiding them; Addie has a couple moments to confess to the woman, but doesn’t until the very end of the book after talking to the woman in the green hat about it; Addie tells God she’s sorry for taking them and apologizes to her dad’s girlfriend for it when giving the sunglasses back; The girlfriend says it’s okay and Addie feels great relief (Addie’s father is not made aware of any of this) *End of Spoilers*); Addie feels jealous and left out when her old best friend is hanging out with another girl (feeling like she’s been ditched by her “former best friend”) & also when a different girl gets more attention at camp than her (a few different scenes); A girl accuses Addie of only thinking of herself, so Addie responds with words to “bite [the girl] back” and calls her a “bossy killjoy” and says she looks forward to having a break from her over the summer (Addie thinks that saying that feels good at first, but then sees the girl’s reaction and wonders if she went too far; Addie doesn’t apologize, but tries to give a peace offering); Later, Addie gossips and talks badly about the girl to a group of others (*Spoilers* which the girl finds out about and is very hurt by Addie’s words; Addie says she didn’t mean what she said and that sometimes the girl can be bossy; Addie says they are “friends who fight sometimes, but friends” and they grow closer as the book continues *End of Spoilers*); Mentions of deaths & grief (including Addie for her mother & a woman for her father); Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thieves, & crimes; Mentions of a divorce, a girl having to choose which parent she will live with, & parents arguing (a side character/friend of Addie’s who discusses it with her); A few mentions of a car accident & death; A few mentions of injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding; A few mentions of when Addie went outside by herself in Book 1 & got lost; A few mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A mention of World War II; A mention of cheating on a test; A mention of throwing up;
*Note: Having a panic attack (being unable to breathe, up to semi-detailed); Addie’s mother died a few years prior and she greatly misses her; Addie is very upset at her dad for having a girlfriend and is mad that her mom could be replaced (this leads to Addie yelling at her dad, running to her room and slamming the door (x2), feeling like her dad is keeping secrets from her, lying, stealing, and being very rude to her dad’s girlfriend and being very mad at her dad; The girlfriend continues to get to be kind to Addie and try to get to know her; *Spoilers* Towards the end, the girlfriend tells Addie that no one can replace her mom and that helps Addie’s opinion on her dad’s relationship with the woman; By the end, Addie helps her dad plan the proposal and being okay with their relationship *End of Spoilers*); Addie doesn’t want to invite her dad’s girlfriend to her birthday party (despite being told it would be nice and the right thing to do) and decides not to invite her because it’s her birthday; Addie comments that because of her peanut allergy, if she ate one she could die, but her dad says that’s “rather dramatic”; Addie breaks her school’s dress code on the last day of school by removing her tie while still on school grounds (when leaving for summer vacation; another girl tells Addie that she will get in trouble, but Addie does not); Mentions of brand names and items (LEGO, Minecraft, Mad Libs, KitKat, & Tootsie Rolls); A few mentions of FaceTime; A few mentions of singers (Benny Goodman, Muggsy Spainer, Quincy Jones); A few mentions of a book Addie starts to read (‘Animal Farm’); A few mentions of a panic attack & anxiety; A mention of Uber; A mention of a musical (‘Oliver!’); A mention of stepmothers often being villains (Addie says this because of fairytales).
Sexual Content- Seeing a couple embrace; Addie is very upset to learn her dad has a girlfriend and dislikes the woman (calling her nothing special and will not allow the woman to “shove her way” into their lives; Addie’s aunt tries to talk to her about wanting her dad to be happy and for Addie to give the woman a chance; Addie’s cousin tells her to treat the woman like a random person instead of her dad’s girlfriend, which Addie does and the day goes better; Addie still hopes they won’t last due to having a long-distance relationship; *Spoilers* Towards the end, Addie overhears her father saying he is ready to propose and Addie is incredibly hurt and upset; After a conversation with the girlfriend, Addie starts to realize that maybe she isn’t so bad and the woman isn’t trying to replace her mom; The book ends with Addie helping her dad plan the proposal and being okay with their relationship *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of girlfriends/boyfriends, dating, & dates; A few mentions of blushes (between an adult couple & Addie friend and cousin when meeting for the first time); A mention of kissing; A mention of Addie and a friend talking about boys (which ones they like and don’t like);
*Note: A friend straightens Addie’s “frizz[y]” hair and Addie can’t take her eyes off herself in the mirror because of it.
-Adelina “Addie” Brown, age 12-13
1st person P.O.V. of Addie
160 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
It’s been a while since I read the first book about Addie, so I think it would be best to read them close together because there’s not a lot of “catch up” to remind the reader of prior events and characters. Because of this, I didn’t remember the issue Addie had with a classmate, Victoria, so I was very disappointed in Addie when she spoke harsh words to her. I didn’t love Addie’s attitudes towards different topics in the beginning (how she treated some other girls, her reaction to her dad having a girlfriend, and then stealing something), but at the same time, her emotions, thought process, and overall lack of thinking did make sense because she’s hurting. She was honestly acting like a brat at times (especially towards those she didn’t like), so I was eagerly looking forward to her much-needed character development to happen. I would have personally preferred Addie to apologize for some of comments or actions, but it was good to see a change in her by the end of the book. I’m not sure if there will be a book 3 in this series and while I hope so because of the woman in the green hat and I would like to see more faith content, it was a satisfying ending for this book’s plot.
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.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (10Publishing) for this honest review.
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