Book Review: Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson @jessleeanderson

Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson

Publisher: Milkweed Editions

Publish Date: September 13, 2011

Paperback, 198 pages 
Fiction, Young Adult
 ISBN: 978-1571316998

My Review:

My thoughts:  Calli is an interesting look at a fifteen year-old-girls life.  Calli’s life is a little different from the start.  She has two mom’s, which isn’t all that different, but she does get made fun of from time-to-time.  But then she gets a foster sister as well.  At first Calli is excited, but then Cherish doesn’t seem to fit the mold of sister that she wanted.  She’s sassy, rude and then of all things, she kisses Calli’s boyfriend Dub.

That kiss sets off a series of events that changes Calli and makes the book.  The book seems to be about the choices that we make and the consequences.  It is well written and really teaches a beautiful lesson.  Calli learns the lesson, takes responsibility in her on way and grows.  Things change and she rolls with the changes.  It’s fascinating to watch and an interesting book from beginning to end.  I don’t want to give anything away, but everything is handled really well in the book.  Ms. Anderson writes in a way that’s easy to understand and keeps you interested from the first page until the last.

Calli is a great book, it deals with interesting issues and captivates the readers.  I won’t forget this book anytime soon.

My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:

Fifteen-year-old Calli has just about everything she could want in life—two loving moms, a good-looking boyfriend, and a best friend who has always been there for support. An only child, Calli is excited when her parents announce that they want to be foster parents. Unfortunately, being a foster sister to Cherish is not at all what Calli expected. First Cherish steals Calli’s boyfriend, then begins to pit Calli’s moms against one another, and she even steals Calli’s iPod. Tired of being pushed around and determined to get even, Calli steals one of Cherish’s necklaces. But this plan for revenge goes horribly awry, and Cherish ends up in juvenile detention.

Isolating herself from her moms, her boyfriend, and even her best friend, Calli wrestles with her guilt and tries to figure out a way to undo the damage she’s caused. When her moms are asked to take on another foster child, Calli sees an opportunity to make amends for her past mistakes.

Funny, moving, and emotionally rich, Calli is a portrait of an endearing young woman caught between adolescence and adulthood, striving to do the right thing even when all of her options seem wrong.


About the Author: 

Jessica Lee Anderson is the author of Trudy (winner of the 2005 Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature), Border Crossing (Quick Picks Nomination, Cynsational Book of 2009), as well as the forthcoming young adult novel, Calli (2011). She's published two nonfiction readers, as well as fiction and nonfiction for a variety of magazines including Highlights for Children. Jessica graduated from Hollins University with a Master of Arts in Children's Literature, and instructed at the Institute of Children's Literature for five years. She is a member of The Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels and hopes to be more sweetheart than scoundrel. She lives near Austin, Texas with her husband and two crazy dogs.

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FTC Information: I received this book through Teen Book Scene for an honest review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.