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Tween Tuesday: One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens! Join the fun, share your links below and discover a new tween read!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Contemporary

Release Date: 5/10/2012

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About the Book: After her stepfather hurts Carley and her mother in a fight, tweleve-year-old Carley has just been told that she is being placed in a foster home until her mother gets better. Carley doesn't belong in the Murphy's foster home-it's too good,  too nice, and too affectionate-not for Carley at all. But the Murphy's, especially the kind and caring Mrs. Murphy, slowly are able to break down Carley's walls and Carley is able to help the Murphy family more than she thought.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: If you're looking for a touching and heartwarming read, add this to your summer reading pile now!! I was captivated from the first page and absolutely fell in love with Carley and the Murphy family. The Murphy's are now one of my fictional families that I would love to live with-they're funny, they're caring, and you can't help but want to be part of them.

One for the Murphys is a tender story about foster care and the brief times that foster children have in a foster parents life. There's no easy path for Carley as she still has a mom to go back to-her time in foster care is not indefinite.. I think readers will especially relate to Carley as she keeps questioning if the life she had before was bad because it's different than the one she comes to know with the Murphys and if her mom really loves her.

Instead of coming off as sappy and cheesy and Hallmark perfect, the Murphys come across as real and down to earth. They show Carley another kind of family-not better or worse, but different. I liked that the book never puts one home life above the other-Carley has good and bad in both situations she's known and I think this makes the story even more powerful.

Give this one to readers looking for a great family story that will stick with them. This is one family you won't forget!

Book Pairings: Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff, Freaky Fast Frankie Joe by Lutricia Clifton, Hound Dog True by Linda Urban

Comments

  1. This sounds like a great read! I like when MG books explore family stuff--that can be really powerful for kids in lots of different home/family situations. I'll have to check it out this summer. :)

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  2. Abby (thelupinelibrarianMay 29, 2012 at 12:11 PM

    The book cover looked so familiar for some reason, and then I realized that the author participated in the Apocalypsies YAmazing Race Blog Hop. Even after reading dozens of blogs, the description for "One for the Murphys" stood out to me, so I guess that's a sign that I should read it soon!

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  3. So agree. It's refreshing to see a different type of family situation. I'm sure lots of kids will relate. I really enjoyed this. Thanks for spotlighting it.

    ReplyDelete

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