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Caribbean L 22 ife, Jan. 4–10, 2019
Challenges of the ‘blended’ child
“Blended” by Sharon M.
Draper
c.2018, Atheneum Books
for Young Readers
$16.99 / $22.99 Canada
311 pages
By Terri
Schlichenmeyer
One plus one is two.
It’s simple: all you have
to do is add or count,
easy-peasy, a trick you
probably learned shortly
after you could talk. One
plus one is two but as
you grow up, you’ll notice
that math can get funny
and, in the case of the
new book “Blended” by
Sharon M. Draper, one
plus one might suddenly
become more.
Eleven-year-old Isabella
Badia Thornton has
two homes.
It’s not like she’s rich
or anything. It’s true,
though, that one house
is like a mansion and the
other is really small, but
the first one is her Dad’s
house and the second
belongs to her Mom. Isabella
has a bedroom in
each home because her
parents got divorced when
she was a little kid and it’s
been a mess ever since.
What she doesn’t like:
the “slicing in half every
seven days” thing when
her parents exchange
custody at the mall. Ugh.
What she loves: her tall,
funny, cocoa-skinned dad
who bought her a baby
grand because Isabella
is obsessed with playing
piano; and her beautiful,
blonde mother, who
noticed Isabella’s talent
back when Izzy was
almost still a baby. Isabella
would never choose
between parents but
sometimes, standing with
one foot in two homes,
between two races, is
really, really hard.
Her friends are superunderstanding
and her
parents’ friends are cool.
Her BFFs, Heather and
Imani, let Isabella vent.
Her Mom’s boyfriend,
John Mark, has sunburned
skin, tats, and a
big truck and he makes
Mom happy. Anastasia,
Isabella’s Dad’s “lady
friend” is elegant and
sweet and Isabella likes
Darren, Anastasia’s college
age son. So it’s not
like she doesn’t have people
who love her, right?
But when you’re 11
years old, there’s a lot to
figure out. Other kids can
be jerks at school, and do
dumb things. Adults can
do equally stupid things
by making decisions
without asking the kids
who are impacted. Racial
issues occur, even when
they definitely shouldn’t.
And when bad things
happen to good kids, it’s
nice to know who you can
always count on.
It can be assumed
that author Sharon M.
Draper was a little girl,
once upon a time. Can
we assume she remembers
it keenly? Because in
“Blended,” she taps perfectly
into the emotions
and the figuring-it-out
period that almost-teenagers
endure today.
In getting inside the
head of a pre-teen girl,
Draper presents a great
young character that happens
to hate drama. Still,
Isabella is a typical kid
with bashful boy-crazy
moments and fierce-girl
classmate conflicts, but
her forthrightness and
willingness to ask for help
could be a boon for any
“blended” child in similar
situations. Parents might
also appreciate that many
of Draper’s characters are
not assigned a race, which
subtly puts the emphasis
of much of the plot on the
action rather than on the
color of skin.
Meant purely for young
readers age 9-to-12, this
middle-grade book is fun,
profanity-free, and relevant
now. Give it to the
girl who needs a sharp
story; for her, “Blended”
is a good one.
Book cover of “Blended” by Sharon M. Draper.
Author Sharon M. Draper.
Katie Schneider Photography
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