Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle
Growing up in a world of wealth and pastel-tinted entitlement, fifteen-year-old Carly has always relied on the constancy—and authenticity—of her sister, Anna. But when fourteen-year-old Anna turns plastic-perfect-pretty over the course of a single summer, everything starts to change. And there are boys involved, complicating things as boys always do.

I'm a huge fan of Myracle's work and this book was no different. Vastly different from her previous release Bliss, pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum, it's back to the usual fare for Myracle- fun stories dealing with some big issues. This book is really character-driven, I think, and focuses on the relationship between sisters Anna and Carly and all the things that come with it- inferiority, insecurity, body growth, boys, etc. It's a wonderfully compelling book that explores these issues with depth and wit.

Yes, this book is also hilarious and had me laughing throughout it. There are sad moments too sprinkled throughout and I feel like I may have teared up a bit reading a certain part. Toward the end of the novel, during a party scene at Anna and Carly's house when their parents are out of town, the emotions Carly went through that whole night leapt off the page for me while I read it. I felt these emotions and it was seriously like I was actually there right beside Carly as it all went down.

There were a couple things that irked me though. I felt like both sisters had occasional bouts of not being able to take a joke and seemed to take the remark way too personally. Now, there are parts where I was like "OK, that was mean." but for others, it just made no sense. I also had a problem with the part of the ending where Carly and her father have a heart-to-heart. It seemed abrupt to me and a bit rushed and not completely believable.

But these are just tiny problems and are nothing major to be concerned about. Overall, this was a really fun read and Myracle did some great exploring of sister dynamics, which isn't always something I see in YA novels. Definitely recommended.



Interview with Lauren Myracle
Now this is an interesting interview. I asked Lauren a couple questions and she responded back with her answers. However, there was a slight problem with them- since she had no wireless on her tour, she had to answer via her phone so her answers are short, sweet and have interesting spelling. I am putting her answers in as is because it's fun, lol. But she was so sweet to even answer even while on tour- how awesome is that?!

1) How did you get the idea for Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks?
wanted to write a book about the fabulous bizareness of the south

2) Was any of it based on your own relationship with your sister??
Lord, yes. love my sis sooooo much and wanted to honor our rlntshp (relationship)...while also, erm, working out deep-seated issues... ;)

3) What's your favorite Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor?
piña colada!!!!!!