Friday, Oct 2, 2009

Book Review: Karma For Beginners by Jessica Blank

 Author:  Jessica Blank

Publisher:  Disney-Hyperion

ISBN #:  978-142311751-3

Type:  Fiction: YA

Pages:  305 Hardback

Published:  August 18, 2009

Website:    HERE

Purchase:  $11.55 (HERE) 

The Story

Tessa doesn’t live the typical life of a 14-year old teenager.  Her eccentric mother keeps them on the move rather constantly.  Tessa doesn’t know what it’s like to set down roots and form lasting relationships.  Their current move takes them on to an ashram in the Catskills.  There, Tessa will begin an existence which will include a type of self-study homeschooling and service activities (i.e. work on the compound).  While Tessa’s mom focuses on her chi and pleasing the guru, Tessa is essentially left with free reign to do as she wishes.

While she is doing her service work, Tessa meets Colin, a 20-year old hottie whom she develops a strong crush on.  Although he doesn’t live on the compound, he has a job there fixing its vehicles.  Colin has an arrangement that he can use their VW bus if he rebuilds the engine.  He needs a second set of hands to pull the engine out and asks Tessa if she’s interested in helping out.  Her obvious answer is “yes.” 

Tessa’s father abandoned the family when she was a young girl.  All she knows about him is that he is a member of a rock band.  She dreams of a life in which she would live with him in a more stable environment.  The only way she knows how to contact him is by sending letters to him via his record label.  Unfortunately, the response she had hoped for doesn’t arrive.

As Tessa’s mom gets freakishly more involved in the sect, their relationship suffers greatly.  Not knowing how to deal with her mom’s oddities and selfish decisions, Tessa turns to Colin for solace.  Their relationship develops into a romantic one.  Tessa frequently leaves the compound to hang out with Colin at his place, or with his friends.  This leads to some poor decision making on her part as she loses her virginity, uses drugs, and acts out in completely inappropriate ways.  Will Tessa find a way to right her wrongs and discover a way to live a meaningful life with her mother?   

The Review

The story takes place in the 1980′s.  As I was a teen of the 80′s, I could easily relate to most of the general aspects of this story including the music and how the parents of the time differed from current day.  However, what I could not wrap my brain around was how this book could be considered “YA.”  Specifically, the heroine of this story was 14 years old (turned 15 within the story).  She was basically on her own, having a sexual relationship, smoking weed, and even experimenting with acid.  The entire time, her selfish mother could not be bothered to conduct herself in the way that a parent should.

I could relate to being that age and making inappropriate decisions for myself.  I, too, grew up way too fast and tackled dating and experimentation earlier than I should have.  Reading this book forced me to look at my past in a different way.  I looked back at myself through a parent’s eyes rather than though my own.  I was entirely too young to have made some of the decisions that I did.  I could see similarities in the way Tessa thought and the way that my teen self viewed things.

This publicity sheet for this book states “Ages 13 and up.”  Frankly, I was more than a bit surprised at what I read in this book and strongly maintain that this book should not be labeled as “YA.”  This book is NOT age appropriate for 13+ and should be marketed as an adult fiction novel.  Frankly, I’m a bit shocked that DISNEY would put their name on this book considering the content, which includes statutory rape (recall that Colin is 20 and Tessa 14/15).  What will Disney publish next?  A “ages 13 & up” novel about teen sex that results in an abortion?

As a mother, I can assure you that I will NOT allow my twins to read this book!

The Rating

Despite the fact that I’m bothered about the marketing of this book to tweens/teens, I think the book itself was fairly good.  I did like reading about life in an ashram and could imagine much of what Tessa experienced.  However, as I read this book all that I could focus on was that this was supposed to be a YA book.  It so clearly isn’t!  This bothered me to such a degree that I honestly couldn’t sit back, relax, and enjoy the book.  Had I read this book with the expectation that it was a standard fiction novel (i.e. targeted for adult reading), I would have not been hung up on the age/Disney/YA issue and most likely could have provided a more objective review.  As a parent, what I’d like to protect my daughters from is sex and drugs.  If they were to read this book, I fear that they might think that it is acceptable to have sex with an adult and experiment with drugs.  Clearly, it is not!

The editors and publishers of this book have done a disservice to Jessica Blank by publishing it in the manner they have.  She is clearly a creative and talented writer and her story most likely warrants a higher review rating from me.  KUDOS to the publisher for the awesome cover/hardback sleeve (look in the rear-view mirror)… it’s super pretty!

Giving Thanks

My thanks to Nicole of The Book Report Network for offering me the opportunity to review a complimentary copy of this novel. 

Another Viewpoint

I found this review on the book that you may want to take a peek at. 

What Do You Think?

Should sexual content and drug use be included in YA books?

• Yes. It happens in real life and we can't put our heads in the sand.
• No. You're only young once, there is plenty of time to face sex & drugs as they arise in adult life.

View Results

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