More like a 3.5

An unlikely story about five teens who are thrown together and become friends and kindness warriors.

This was a cool concept about finding friends you didn’t know you needed right when you needed them. But almost every character was whiny and annoying. Yes they were dealing with big issues but it could have been written much better.

"The colors of early morning layered the sky. Yellow sat on the horizon. Red faded to pink and orange faded into deep purple. Jean ran to the car to get his sketchpad. Val and Alice lay back on the sand and snuggled under the blanket. Gordie wrapped a beach towel around my shoulders. For a long stretch of time, nobody said a word."

I seem to have enjoyed this more than a lot of other reviewers of Goodreads. This was a great and inspiring book for young adults to read. Five high school juniors from varying backgrounds and life experiences meet because they are being honored as heroes in their community. Each has done (and continues to do) something that helps others - organizing donation drives for school supplies, camp for adults with disabilities, etc.

After forming their friendship they are bonded further by the hope of inspiring kindness in others and inheriting an old man's dying wish.

This was really sweet!

Sadie was more than prepared for a boring summer.  Her best friend was going away to work at a summer camp and she was going to work at a farm stand selling fruits, veggies, and $12 chunks of cheese to "citiots" who were on their way from NYC to the Hamptons.  Then, something completely random happened.  When a drunk and belligerent man pulled in to the farm stand, Sadie became a bit of a hero.  Rather than let him drive away with his toddler screaming and crying in the back seat, Sadie physically stopped him from leaving.  It wasn't all that simple, though.  As she struggled to take away his keys, she actually had her head smashed off a toolbox and ended up with a major concussion and a terrible scar to show for her efforts.  Video of her daring deed went viral and she was nominated for an award at a "homegrown heroes" luncheon that honored local teens.  

Though they would have been unlikely to come together on their own, these teens felt an instant connection and decided to start hanging out as a group.  Before long, they were working together to take down internet trolls while leaving care packages for the people who had been bullied.  I don't want to give away too much, but I think it's fair to say that their good deeds soon escalated with the help of a generous benefactor.  Though I was glad to see a book featuring brave and generous characters from a wide variety of backgrounds (both ethnic and socio-economic), I have concerns about the dangerous situations into which these teens placed themselves and can only hope that readers will know better than to emulate those particular acts of heroism.

Happy Reading!

Just the kind of teen novel I needed this week: life changes, crushes, bad decisions, smart choices.

As much as I disliked Perennials, I really really enjoyed The Unlikelies. It was offbeat and creative and moving and it felt very real and honest. The characters were just quirky enough to feel interesting and just nice enough to feel trustworthy with my attention. I liked the richer backstories each character possessed and which continued even along with and because of the overarching plot. And I loved the setting.

My only thought would be that the money is too convenient a thing, but I suppose there has to be some of that if I am gonna love the Hapmtons as the setting.

So I really like Carrie Firestone. I especially like how she's not just an out of the box writer in a genre that has built the box out of steel and blingee gifs of Channing Tatum's abs, but she doesn't even acknowledge the box. She just stands there in front of it as it loops an image of some dude tormenting in the rain with no shirt on, she asks "What box?"

The Unlikelies is good, but not my kind of great. This doesn't mean it's a bad book - I would definitely let my hypothetical future daughter read it - I just don't think she built a box I want to curl into on Sunday afternoon.

So read it, try the box out and realize that Channing Tatums abs are nice to look at, but awful with words.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Just meh.