Wishbones
Virginia Macgregor
2017, 384 pages
Young Adult
Tucker is a skinny young teen who loves her family and loves swimming. She’s never cared that her mother is overweight. She thinks that her mother is beautiful; as beautiful as a movie star. Feather and her Dad take care of her Mum, who is so overweight that she will not go out of the house. Her Mum is scared of going outside, running out of food, hospitals and the water. So she never goes to see Feather compete in her swimming competitions. Feather is training for the regionals. But together with her Mum, Dad and their mischievous goat Houdini, life is pretty good.
Until the night of New Year’s Eve, when Feather comes home to find her mother passed out on the floor in a diabetic coma. Now Feather has these goals: 1) To make her Mum healthy again, 2) Win the Junior U.K. swimming championship 3) Save her family. But can Feather save her family all by herself?
This is a wonderful young adult novel that brings up the issues of eating disorders, family secrets, different kinds of friendships, and how to help others. Feather is a charming character who finds strength that she didn’t know she had. And help comes to Feather from unexpected allies.
Virginia Macgregor is a Concord author and has written several other novels with interesting, timely subjects. At the end of this book she thanks her readers and says, “I love writing for you and hope that we’ll share many stories.”
Robbin BaileyConcord Public Library
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