{"id":31059,"date":"2018-03-13T15:29:20","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T19:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=31059"},"modified":"2018-03-13T15:29:20","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T19:29:20","slug":"review-of-peas-and-carrots-by-tanita-s-davis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=31059","title":{"rendered":"Review of Peas and Carrots, by Tanita S. Davis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Peas and Carrots<\/em><\/p>\n

by Tanita S. Davis<\/p>\n

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2016. 279 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a contemporary novel about a teen in foster care. It\u2019s been years since Dess has lived with her baby brother. She got kicked out of her last foster home and has been in group homes ever since. But now, when she asks to see her brother \u2013 she ends up getting placed in the home he\u2019s in. There\u2019s even a sister who is fifteen, just like Dess.<\/p>\n

Just because two teens are the same age doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ll get along. The book alternates perspectives between white-skinned Dess and African-American Hope, her new foster sister.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s their meeting from Dess\u2019s perspective:<\/p>\n

The girl looks right at me, and her eyes get all wide. She\u2019s darker than Foster Lady and shorter, but thick like her, with a crinkly mess of puffy hair in a sloppy bun. She\u2019s all baby fat and big cow eyes, which I\u2019m about to slap out of her damn head if she doesn\u2019t stop staring at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you looking at?\u201d I snarl at the same time that she blurts out, \u201cUm . . . I\u2019m Hope. Hi.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here it is from Hope\u2019s perspective:<\/p>\n

So this was Austin\u2019s real sister \u2013 his birth sister. This girl, with her pale-blue eyes and dragon-lady nails, looked nothing like Austin, whose skin was a sandy brown, whose eyes were a dark hazel, and whose hair was tightly furled golden-brown curls. Hope searched for any trace of resemblance to Austin\u2019s sharp-chinned, round-headed adorableness in the single wary eye, ringed hard with liner, that glared out at her from beneath the sweep of stiff, blond bangs. Half siblings could still look alike, but . . . no, nothing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dess isn\u2019t used to a loving family, and is skeptical of the \u201crule\u201d of acting with kindness. Hope isn\u2019t used to having a foster sister her own age who isn\u2019t, actually, very nice to her. Then at school, Dess seems to be able to make friends more easily than Hope, which is completely disorienting for Hope.<\/p>\n

But eventually, through the ins and outs of everyday life, the girls learn to care about even someone so different.<\/p>\n

This story had me reading until far too late in the night. Your heart goes out to Dess, with her tough family situation, but also to Hope, just trying to be kind but also wanting to be noticed in a family that is so much about service, sometimes Hope gets overlooked.<\/p>\n

The people, the friendships, and the school situations felt true to life. You\u2019re pulled into caring about these girls. The reader gets to see both perspectives, and it\u2019s beautiful to watch them slowly inch toward each other.<\/p>\n

TanitaSDavis.com<\/a>
\nrandomhouseteens.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/peas_and_carrots.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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