Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes
Author: Mary E. Lambert
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Reviewer: Kelly
Summary: Annabelle has a secret that she is trying to keep from
everyone.
Her mother is a hoarder and
her house is a mess.
Her father decides
to leave the house a week early for a trip that he already has planned because
he cannot take it anymore; Annabelle, her brother and sister are left at home
with their mom.
The mess, the arguments
and work are all too much.
The kids are
all dealing with this dysfunctional family and trying to balance their school
and home lives in the best way that they can.
The youngest, Annabelle’s sister, has no other choice than to involve
their grandmother and call her into town to help with the situation.
After the dreaded arrival of their
grandmother, Annabelle realizes that their issues are a lot deeper and
extensive than she had ever thought.
Annabelle is trying to stick to her rule of not allowing any friends
within 5 miles of her house but this rule/secret are becoming increasingly more
difficult and heavy for her to handle.
She has her first crush on a boy that she really cares about but is so
embarrassed of not being able to tell anyone who she really is.
Should she open up to her friends, should she
reach out to her dad and tell him to come home?
Will this be the final straw that gets her mom to change her ways or
will it be the argument that tears their family apart?
Review: This story of a young, middle school girl was so great!
I truly enjoyed reading about Annabelle and
learning more about her feelings and her strengths.
She has dealt with her mother’s issues for
years and has had a pretty easy time coping with them.
It’s not until these outside factors like a
new boy, her father leaving, her grandmother coming to the rescue, that she
realizes that maybe she has been coping all of this time but the others around
her have not.
Annabelle tries so hard to
continue to only care for herself but is fighting with her heart to help the
ones around her who might also need her support, specifically her younger
sister.
Throughout the book we see
Annabelle become less stubborn and having to really check herself and her
actions when she gets caught in a few pretty tough positions.
This is a great read for any young girl or
boy and will show them that people are sometimes dealing with some pretty heavy
things.
Not all families are perfect and
we do not ever know anyone’s true struggle or story unless they confide it in
us.
The power of family and appreciation
of differences shines through in this book.
