This week's Wednesday Wonders features
Accidentally Me
by Kim Karras
About Accidentally Me:
“Maybe, just maybe,
if I can convince Dad that I’m in enough danger at home, he won’t mind shipping
me to California for school. But there’s only one problem. If I hope to pull
this stalker scheme off, I’m going to need more than just a scary story.”
Sabrina has been trying to be the perfect child her whole
life to convince her parents that she’s more than just an “accident.” Now she
is desperate to go to her dream college, but her parents want her to stay close
to home. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Sabrina must team up
with an unlikely ally to get what she wants. But she can’t let her parents
discover her plan. If she wants to maintain her perfect image, Sabrina must
break rules that even her rebel sister keeps . . .
Excerpt:
“I want
to pay you to stalk me.”
Impossibly,
Calvin’s big, blue eyes get even bigger. “Wow,” he says, stroking his beard.
“That was...unexpected.”
“Well,
yeah.” Inside I am reeling. Unexpected is not my territory. “Here’s the thing.
I’ve been accepted to go to Caltech in the fall. But my parents—well, really,
my dad—is worried about me being so far away from home. I’m thinking, if I can
convince him that I’m in some sort of danger here, California will almost look
like—”
“Refuge.”
Calvin turns from me and looks vacantly at the ground for a minute. There is
something about this guy that makes me uncomfortable. Finally, he returns his
attention to me. “So, what, exactly are you proposing?”
Book
Review for Accidentally Me:
This book surprised me. Written in first person with
main character Sabrina freshly graduated from high school, I expected a healthy
dose of teenage angst. However, this story dealt with a young woman probably
too smart for her own good who goes about getting what she wants even if it
means manipulating her parents and resorting to unscrupulous measures. She soon
finds herself in deeper trouble than she ever thought she could be. Her
challenge then becomes, what will she do about it?
Part of trouble stems from her belief that because
she was born so many years after her brother and sister, she wasn’t wanted. She
looks at her birth as an inconvenient accident rather than a pleasant surprise.
She feels she has always needed to be the perfect child to overcome her
position in the family. The way she wears her safari hat that is part of her
work uniform even when she is not at work becomes a symbol for her desire to
hide from her perceived reality. This misunderstanding clouds her reasoning
leading her to make choices which, although they are very innovative, are destructive.
I could understand her motivation although I couldn’t agree with it.
The author not only portrayed Sabrina well, but the other
characters are also engaging. The secondary romance plot involving the rebel
older sister Sabrina thinks can get away with anything because she is so
beautiful touched me. It portrayed the consequences that can be suffered later
in life of not making good choices while younger, yet there is the hope that
she can turn around her life and move forward. Also, the mother as the
powerhouse in the family—the main person Sabrina recognizes she must work around—and
the father—tired and loving—kept the story interesting.
This was no Pollyanna story. It gave me a lot to
think about. I could not help but like Sabrina in spite of her poor choices. The
book is well-written and the plot moves forward at a good pace. I recommend it.
About
Kim Karras:
Kim Karras writes contemporary fiction for teens and adults.
She graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in English in 2002. Kim
lives with her husband and three children in Sandy, Utah. Her notes on life,
motherhood, and writing can be found on-line at kimkarras.blogspot.com.
Author
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