Divided Loyalties
Vikki SimmonsYoung Adult
Available from Awe-Struck Ebooks
ISBN: 1-58749-387-x
August 2004
| Since her parents divorce, sixteen-year-old Trisha Braedon has focused all her energy on winning a scholarship to Rice University and working at her father’s restaurant. Before Trisha meets the new kid in school, Jon Higheagle, even her boy-crazy best friend Nita had not been able to get Trisha to change her routine to join any after school activities. In a few short weeks the charismatic environmental activist turns Trisha’s life upside down with his crusade to get rid of the Styrofoam containers in the school cafeteria. Nita, who has the hots for Jon, convinces Trisha to attend the meeting Jon organized to make signs for a protest against the school board. Trisha is reluctantly pulled into the protests as a mutual attraction quickly develops between Trisha and Jon. But the relationship is complicated when Trisha’s participation causes problems for her scholarship and her father’s business. As her budding romance with Jon and friendship with Nita is jeopardized Trisha will have to confront the unresolved issues in her past to understand where her loyalties lay.
Filled with charming, well-developed characters /Divided Loyalties/ is a quick and pleasurable read for any age. Ms Simmons tells her story with grace and gentle humor while bringing together many of the issues that face teenagers today from divorce to balancing friends, work and school. This is not a young adult novel filled with teen angst but with the subtle and realistic concerns of societal pressure and learning to understand oneself. Every character in this book is unique and voiced well and readers will be able to quickly identify with the characters (even if it has been twenty years since your own high school experience). Overall this is a sweet, satisfying story with an ending the leaves you wanting more.
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Reviewer: Larenda Twigg |
