Title: Peaches
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
# of Pages: 312

Summary:

This was the summer that Murphy, Leeda, and Birdie realized that life is filled with unexpected twists and turns. These three teenaged girls, with their outstanding differences that made it seem impossible for them to befriend each other, eventually went against the odds and did so under unusual circumstances.

Murphy McGowen is well-known to be a mischievous teenager in Bridgewater, Georgia, particularly after she is sentenced to work at the Darlington Peach Orchard for the entire spring break, and, later, her summer for committing crimes and setting off pranks. Leeda Cawley-Smith only wishes to avoid the rest of her well-to-do family, causing her to also spend her holidays working at the orchard. Finally, as the owner’s daughter, Birdie Darlington faces hardships after her mother has left her important position there, and the orchard faces financial turmoil that could result in a nearby developer buying the land. Each of these girls is brought together by the orchard, and develops a strong bond that will surely last their lifetimes.

Thoughts:

Jodi Lynn Anderson’s story is truly amazing and extraordinary. She uses real-life situations in writing her novel, without the surreal style of other chick lit authors. She showed the true power of friendships, that humans simply need a loving friend to help cope with their problems. Each of the characters must deal with serious conflicts relating to their family, finance, relationships, or a combination of these. Through the time spent together, they eventually, for the most part, resolve them in some way.

Reading Peaches was a touching experience, from the emotional breakdowns to the moving plot that caused readers to sympathize with the characters. I felt fortunate to not have faced the stressed situations they did, but the author’s realistic writing technique immediately brought me to somehow connect with them. She leads you to simply love the characters and understand exactly how they feel.

For these reasons, I would highly recommend Peaches to all teenage girls, as they will surely enjoy the story and possibly relate to the characters. Peaches is a typical chick lit novel, other than its striking realism, with some romance, and the whole concept of the necessity of friendships.

For such a seemingly perfect novel, its only downside is that the storyline is all too similar to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novels by Ann Brashares, other than the fact that the three girls in this novel only became friends after some hardships and initial disagreements. Both include themes regarding the inseparability of groups of friends, and the fact that each of the girls get along so well despite their notable differences.

Overall, Peaches will be sure to satisfy the reader, bringing them to yearn for its sequel, The Secrets of Peaches.

Main themes and subjects:

• Romance; many aspects of this novel deal with relationships between the three girls and the boys they meet
• First impressions are rarely sufficient to judge a person; the three girls didn't get along very well at first, but soon became inseparable once they began to know each other
• Friends will help each other in times of need

Target audience: Teenage girls

Genre: Chick lit

Book review by Fiona T.
*3 hours so far