Always the New Girl by Kelly Vincent

Always the New Girl by Kelly Vincent
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

Knitting nerd Sarah Redmond is always the new girl, never the popular one.

Moving all over the country with her flighty mom seemed to be her lot in life, but her junior year at Sierra Vista High School feels like it could be different.

She’s finally on the verge of a social breakthrough.

But when she gets publicly punked at her first party, she and her new friends find a creative way to use their shared obsession with knitting to exact sweet revenge.

And when their efforts lead to a lucrative business, Sarah knows she’s set.

But when her deadbeat dad comes back around she starts to wonder if she should try for a different life, instead of following the paths her parents have chosen.

She’d always half thought her small-time knitting channel could grow into a big-time knitting channel, but maybe college as a backup plan isn’t such a ridiculous idea, after all.

But is that something a girl like her can really make happen?

This is a look at a girl who is determined not to follow in her mom’s footprints. Ms. Vincent has a gift for putting herself in the life of teenagers and sharing that life with us. Written in the first person, we are right with Sarah when she moves, with her mom to Sierra Vista, following yet another boyfriend, to start her junior year of high school. After some mean kids set her up (why do kids do that?), she is able to find friends who really like her the way she is.

The book is written in six parts with each part reading like a short short story. This can be a bit disconcerting, because there are times she refers back to something that happened in the previous part – like when you are reading the next book in the series. Other than that, which tended to take me out of the story briefly, I liked the pacing of the story.

Each section of the book had its own conflict, which kept the action moving and gave a good luck at the relationship she has with her friends. And, there is relationship drama – as an aside, I love the character of Alex and only wish all teenage boys were as mature as he is in the book.

The characters are well-drawn and three dimensional, which leads to a richer experience. I admire the main character a lot. She went through a lot during her life, and I enjoyed hearing how she became her own person in the two years this book covers.

Recommended for all teenagers.

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