When Jessie’s long-lost father calls her out of the blue one day, she’d just as soon he vanish again, but she finds herself stuck with him anyway when her bipolar mother attempts suicide. On the flight from Alabama to Florida she picks up a beat-up old book and despite herself—her ADHD has not helped to foster a love of reading—finds it has something to offer. So does her newfound dad, his bratty daughter and his crew of friends, including a sushi chef and his wife and an appealingly gap-toothed boy. Rue takes a predictable arc—troubled girl is rescued by her reformed, born-again father and biblical truths—and freshens it with a hugely sympathetic protagonist-narrator, mostly genuine supporting characters and a well-realized setting (a St. Augustine motorcycle shop and environs). The smart-mouthed “Real Life” book is both a Bible in teenspeak and a character, “speaking” to Jessie and uncannily anticipating her needs. At the end, Jessie leaves it for another needy soul to find. Here’s hoping the next entry in this new series lives up to the standard set here. (author’s note, scriptural guide) (Fiction. 12 & up)
