Published April 15, 2007
About the Book:
Can we overcome our past?
Katie Parker is about to get a new life—whether she wants one or not. With her mom in prison, and her father AWOL, Katie is sent to live with a squeaky-clean family who could have their own sitcom. She launches a full-scale plan to get sent back to the girls’ home when she finds herself in over her head...and heart. When Katie and her new "wrong crowd" get into significant trouble at school, she finds her punishment is restoring a historic theater with a crazy grandma who goes by the name of Mad Maxine. In the midst of her punishment, Katie uncovers family secrets that run deep, and realizes she's not the only one with a pain-filled past. Katie must decide if she'll continue her own family’s messed up legacy or embrace a new beginning in this place called In Between.
My Thoughts:
I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads thinking more like 3.5 stars. I liked it fine but didn't love it for a few reasons. It is Christian YA fiction, but I had no idea until deep into the book. Christian books just aren't really my normal thing to read not being a religious person. If I had known that upfront, I probably wouldn't have read it as there are things about the book that bothered me exactly for this reason. The book was a little judgmental, such as the way the Christian teens in the book are basically perfect or pretty close to it and the non-Christian teens being hoodlums basically. That rubbed me the wrong way and being a good person, being smart, doing the right thing, etc. isn't mutually exclusive to Christians. The judgmental stuff really affected my views on the book. Without it, it was actually pretty good and would have been a solid 4 stars easily, even with the religious content. I appreciated that it differed from many YA books in not having a boy somehow fix or solve the teen girl's issues. That happens too much in books and movies for teens, so it's refreshing when that is in no way part of the story. This was about a girl from a tough background (mom in prison, her in the foster system, etc.) finding her place in the world, and it could have easily slipped into that pattern. The family dynamics between Katie and her foster parents and foster grandma were great, especially the grandma. There was also a lot of humor in the book, and I really liked Katie's personality and sense of humor. This is part of a series, but I'm unsure on if I will read the others. This one was free for my Kindle, and if I could get the others for free too I might check them out. I doubt I would pay more than 99 cents for them, though, as the judgmental stuff really did bug me. I do think it's probably a great series for anyone looking for wholesome YA type literature for their daughter, especially if they are religious. I would add, though, a good lesson on not judging others would go along well with it.
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