Review Detail

Jenna has a lot going on in her life right now - her father has abandoned the family, her mother seems to be in a depression and hardly ever leaves her bed, and her older brother, Casey, is your typical teenage boy that tries to keep things together the best way that a teenage boy can. Which can be pretty difficult at times since Jenna is always sick with some sort of mystery illness that the doctors can never figure out. When Jenna gets extremely ill, Casey attempts to rush her to the hospital and unfortunately gets into a bad car accident on the way there. Jenna tries to keep alert, but now with a few injuries on top of being so very sick, she can hardly hang on and keep track as to what has happened to her brother.
When she wakes up, things get very, very interesting...

The book does start with a 'middle grade' sort of feel, but once things start moving along it definitely takes a good 'young adult' turn. We see spunky 13 year old Jenna mature and take responsibility like no other teen should have to. With creativity, humor and sass, Jenna is able to deal with whatever life throws her way - her absence from school, her medical care, having no adult supervision, taking care of her mother and to top it all off - a brother who is now an angel?! And that's not all! With the help of Casey's 'angel-ism', they soon discover that Jenna's illness and their mothers forgetfulness and supposed depression are related and someone is purposefully making them sick, maybe even trying to kill them! And all of this may be the reason why their father has disappeared...

The relationship between Jenna and Casey is so realistic and amazing - every time they are together you get some really great sister and brother moments that leave you chuckling and, if you have a sibling, completely relating to them. They have their ups and downs, but under the circumstances that have come to light, they need each other more than ever. And absolutely nothing can keep these two apart. Not even a pair of angel wings.

A fast-paced novel for ages 12 and up. There is something for everyone in this book. Joy Preble has wowed me with her writing and realistic story. She really knows how to create a realistic family dynamic.
I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series called THE A-WORD, which is expected to be released in May 2014.