Posted by Lauren in Book Reviews, Contemporary, Featured | 11 Comments
Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release date: October 1, 2012
Pages: 245
Summary: After Parker’s mother “turned” lesbian and left her family, she became isolated from all but one of her friends. Parker began to mess around with as many guys as possible to prove that she wasn’t like her mother. Now, a few months after her mother’s departure, Parker wants things to go back to the way they were before. She misses playing softball, and she misses having genuine relationships. When a new softball coach shows up (a hot, twenty three-year-old one), Parker finds herself drawn to the comfort he offers.
My thoughts: I consider myself to be a pretty good predictor of endings when it comes to YA romance. I can usually tell who will end up with whom fairly early in the book. Stealing Parker, though, kept me on my toes—which made it an even more enjoyable read. I couldn’t stop reading until I knew how things would turn out for Parker.
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Stealing Parker quite as much as I did because 1) it features a student-teacher relationship, which is totally skeevy and 2) the book has a strong Christian theme, and that rarely goes over well with me (everything tends to come off as preachy). However. Miranda Kenneally is truly something, because she pulled both of these themes off with finesse. Obviously, she isn’t promoting breaking the law (student-teacher shenanigans), but she makes Parker’s emotions believable. I enjoyed reading Kenneally’s take on forbidden schoolgirl love, especially since she makes it so down-to-earth.
The Christianity themes were similarly handled; Parker is a girl struggling with her faith, and she continues to do so up until the very end. I liked that Kenneally presents religion as a personal experience rather than a strict adherence to certain guidelines.
I have yet to read Catching Jordan, Miranda Kenneally’s debut, but after reading Stealing Parker, I’m going to make a point to do so. Kenneally has a great voice and a spunky, fun writing style that I fell completely in love with. Plus, her characters are interesting, and the stories she tells are meaningful rather than purely fluffy.
In Summation:
An unpredictable and suspenseful romance
+ a meaningful story
+ complex themes that are handled gracefully
+ a baseball team full of ridiculous and hilarious boys
= Stealing Parker, a seriously fun book
4.5/5 stars
For those who like: Baseball, romance, family drama
Find the author at MirandaKenneally.com.
Comment question: Do student-teacher romances skeeve you out, or are you fine with them when it comes to fiction?
I LOVE Miranda’s books – Catching Jordan is so so good, with an athletic main character who really wants to be the first girl pro footballer.
Teacher-student relationships are usually skeevy unless the age difference is minimal and the student is almost a legal adult with enough experience. I think it all depends on the people, on the quality of the relationship, and if the girl or the younger party is mature enough. Of course if the teacher is old then that’s totally icky.
It’s awesome you found another author you love:)
It’s not the student-teacher-aspect that can make reading something like that weird for me, but the age difference. In STEALING PARKER it seems to be not too huge, which is why I’m really looking forward to it.
I really loved CATCHING JORDAN and am really looking forward to read this companion novel. I’m glad you enjoyed this despite the religious undertones and the teacher-student-relationship… I can’t wait to see how Miranda Kenneally pulled this off. :)
Thanks for sharing!
Carina @ Fictional Distraction recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday #76
Oh you’ve got to read Catching Jordan, Lauren! I loved it as the author tackles sports and gender roles. I’m really excited for Stealing Parker, but I was a bit afraid about the strong Christian theme too. I’m always weary about strong religious tones, but you made me feel better about it.
Rummanah recently posted..YA Minireviews: Immortal Rules, Jessica Rules the Dark Side, and Sisters Red
I really need to read Catching Jordan and this book. I have heard nothing but amazing things about her books. Great review!!
I have to say that teacher-student relationships creep me out. It’s just wrong. The teacher should know better than to engage in a relationship with a student. If their age difference is minimal, and the student is almost an adult, wait until they are out of school and then pursue it.
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I am fine with student-teacher relationships when reading about them in books, but not in real life. Books I know aren’t real and I am interested to see how it works out in this book. But in real life I believe it is wrong and the teacher is taking advantage of their situation.
I just bought Catching Jordan so if I enjoy that one I will have to check this one out. :)
Great review :)
Ah! So glad you liked this so much. I loved Catching Jordan, but I feel like Stealing Parker really really really hits it out of the ballpark. (ha) I think the author really showed growth with her writing, and took really taboo subjects and made them REAL. So with you on preachy books with religious themes, Kenneally did it so perfectly… I almost forgot it was an issue at times.
Yayy! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one, Lauren! I picked it up this week and can’t wait to find the time to read it. I loved Catching Jordan and while I’m not a fan of teacher-student relationships or religious themes in novels, I’m convinced that Kenneally can write them in an excellent manner. Wonderful review, dear! :)
Keertana @ Ivy Book Bindings recently posted..Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Student teacher relationships in fiction don’t weird me out as long as both characters are close in age and maturity, and are together for the right reasons being that they care about each other. A great New Adult fiction novel where this is done nicely is Slammed by Colleen Hoover.
Great review – I still need to read Catching Jordan and reading this reminds me to add it to my wish list so I can catch all the way up!! :(
I usually don’t enjoy student-teacher relationships in fiction, but I also really enjoyed Stealing Parker :) I probably wouldn’t read any other books with the same theme, but Stealing Parker was great. Amazing review!
Montana G. recently posted..Cursed by Jennifer Armentrout Book Review
I have heard this is a good read. I agree about teacher/student relationships though – a bit suss.