Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
When I received this book for review, I wasn't aware that it was the last book in a series. I had always wanted to read Laura Pedersen's books, so I went online and ordered the three previous books before I read this one. I am truly glad that I did. I think I loved this book much more than if I hadn't read the earlier ones, but you can read BEST BET without reading the others and still enjoy it.
This series starts with BEGINNER'S LUCK, and in that book we are introduced to Hallie, a 16-year-old who is the second oldest in a very large family which keeps growing. She wants to escape her life and ends up being a gardener for a rich family in town. She comes to love this very eccentric group of people.
Throughout the books, we get to know her biological family and the people who adopt her. In this installment, Hallie is graduating from college and is looking forward to living in Cincinnati with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Craig. She is called into the Dean's office and is told that through some clerical error (a counselor with Alzheimer's) she will not be able to graduate because she is four credits short.
Because of that problem, Hallie ends up going around the world in four months with a sociology class and a really cute guy. On that trip, Halle learns what life for her is all about. She finds that what she really wants out of life is in her own backyard surrounded by the people she loves most in the world.
I came to really love Hallie. She has a lot of questions about what life is about and what really matters. She is smart and funny and someone I would want in my corner when bad things happen. She has lots of layers. In BEST BET, there is a funny character named Mandy, who is a Mennonite. When they leave on the trip, Mandy is wearing the traditional Mennonite clothing, but as they proceed she becomes a different person, dyeing her hair and wearing very provocative clothing. She is a kick.
I had a great time in Hallie's world and am sorry I can't go back. Thank you, Ms. Pedersen, for giving me such a wonderful summer in these books.
When I received this book for review, I wasn't aware that it was the last book in a series. I had always wanted to read Laura Pedersen's books, so I went online and ordered the three previous books before I read this one. I am truly glad that I did. I think I loved this book much more than if I hadn't read the earlier ones, but you can read BEST BET without reading the others and still enjoy it.
This series starts with BEGINNER'S LUCK, and in that book we are introduced to Hallie, a 16-year-old who is the second oldest in a very large family which keeps growing. She wants to escape her life and ends up being a gardener for a rich family in town. She comes to love this very eccentric group of people.
Throughout the books, we get to know her biological family and the people who adopt her. In this installment, Hallie is graduating from college and is looking forward to living in Cincinnati with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Craig. She is called into the Dean's office and is told that through some clerical error (a counselor with Alzheimer's) she will not be able to graduate because she is four credits short.
Because of that problem, Hallie ends up going around the world in four months with a sociology class and a really cute guy. On that trip, Halle learns what life for her is all about. She finds that what she really wants out of life is in her own backyard surrounded by the people she loves most in the world.
I came to really love Hallie. She has a lot of questions about what life is about and what really matters. She is smart and funny and someone I would want in my corner when bad things happen. She has lots of layers. In BEST BET, there is a funny character named Mandy, who is a Mennonite. When they leave on the trip, Mandy is wearing the traditional Mennonite clothing, but as they proceed she becomes a different person, dyeing her hair and wearing very provocative clothing. She is a kick.
I had a great time in Hallie's world and am sorry I can't go back. Thank you, Ms. Pedersen, for giving me such a wonderful summer in these books.
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