Review - Bright Blue Miracle by Becca Wilhite

Title: Bright Blue Miracle

Author: Becca Whilhite

Series: Stand Alone

Pages: 173

Published:  February 4th 2009 by Shadow Mountain 

ISBN: 9781606410318

Source: Personal Copy

 

Description: Seventeen-year-old Leigh Mason is not sure she's ready to share her mom, her bedroom, and her little sisters with her new stepsister, Betsy. And she's definitely not ready to share her best friend, who happens to be a boy! Coping with a blended family is not easy for either Leigh or Betsy, especially during their senior year in high school. Each step brings them nearer to a crisis that will either send them running in different directions or bind them firmly together (which, let's face it, would take a miracle). Bright Blue Miracle is a new young adult novel that has everything a girl wants: a hero (more specifically, a really cute boy), a villain (who happens to be a stepsister), comedy, despair, pedicures, ice cream, love, hate, tennis, revenge, and, of course, a couple of surprises that might send you for some tissues.

I Give This ...
 

I found this at my local Walmart one day quite a long time ago.  The cover really caught my interest because its so bright.  The story sounded promising, although since I found it in the LDS section I knew it was apt to be pretty cleanly written as well.

I think its a true tribute to her upbringing that Leigh doesn't all out rebel at the changes she has to go through.  Being a teenage girl isn't easy, add in a new step-sister and things are going to be challenging.   She asked to share her room with a person she barely knows and really doesn't like much in the beginning.  I was a little surprised at that arrangement.  I think it put to much pressure on the girls to get along.   I think the family probably could have functioned better if they found a way to let them both have their own space.

I was also surprised that Betsy chooses to date Leigh's best friend.  I know she asked if it was ok, but it was another way I felt that Leigh was asked to bend over backward for Betsy.   Be nice to her...she gave up her home and friends to move here was a phrase while not necessarily spoken was definitely felt.   I never though Leigh got a fair chance to display her emotions, or that her family thought she was justified in doing so.

I did really like the overall message that's displayed in this story.  Family comes first, even when its a blended family.  That sometimes things need to fall apart a little before they can fully come together.  And I think perhaps the biggest one is that everybody deserves a chance.   I think it takes courage to look beyond what you initially see and look deeper.