Something Real

Something Real by Heather Demetrios follows Bonnie Baker (who goes by Chloe when she's not at home) who grew up on national television with all her brothers and sister.  The show she was on A Bakers Dozen was cancelled after her parents divorced and she had a suicide attempt.  Bonnie has finally recovered from being on the show and learned to relax in public when she comes home to find that her mother and stepfather have allowed the cameras back into her home and are not giving her a choice in having her life videotaped.

I really enjoyed this book and spent most of my snow day today unable to put it down.  I felt outrage for Bonnie having to put up with every parental conversation being taped and broadcast to the world.  It also delved a bit into the idea of how cameras change how you act with several references to the book 1984.  The romance and Bonnie's relationship with her brother are both well written and the author did a fantastic job of exploring a girl who feels powerless over her environment.

Appropriateness:  There is a lot of drinking in this book and some smoking, usually as a crutch to deal with the problems that they're facing (they always call a designated driver).  So this is a good book to talk to your child about alcoholism and drinking to try to dull pain.  There's no sex but there are several (mild) make-out scenes and discussions of other characters sleeping around.  I recommend this book for readers 13+