Title: Freeing Carter
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Blurb:
His whole life Carter’s fought to hold it together: To help Mom run their store. To be there for his special needs sister, Sara, and be the perfect boyfriend Mel wants. To dominate on the basketball court—the only place he ever feels free. And to carry Mom up the stairs when she’s too smashed to make it on her own.
It isn't like she has a problem. Mom loves them. If she doesn't drink every day, she's not really an alcoholic, right?
Wrong.
Then Kira Dawson, a girl with a bipolar wardrobe and rotating hairstyles comes to town. Somehow, she sees the truths he hides from the world. “You have skeletons, too, Carter Shaw. Don’t think I don’t know it.” For the first time, he wants someone to see his inner scars—to really know him.
When his mom finally goes too far, will Carter be able to man-up, even if it means turning his back on her and stepping out from behind the façade he’s fought so hard to keep in place?
Links:
Freeing Carter on Goodreads
Freeing Carter on Amazon
Nyrae Dawn's Website
Kala's Review:
I originally rated this 3 stars after reading, but after giving it some thought I bumped it up to 4. I really liked this book.
Carter, the main character, has so much to deal with. His mom is an alcoholic who struggles hard with her inner demons. His little sister, Sara, has special needs and he struggles to help her and deal with his mom. He also has grown apart from his girlfriend and knows their relationship is no longer a good thing, but hesitates to break things off.
A new girl, Kira, moving to town jump starts a change in his life that brings all of these struggles to a head and helps Carter start to deal with all the bad in his life.
Kira is an awesome character. She's smart, funny, eccentric, confident. I like that she has the cajones to wear what she wants and do crazy stuff with her hair. I like that she doesn't care about conforming to the popular standard. I like that she is pretty and knows it, but isn't conceited about it either.
Carter was a bit on the wussy side at first, but I think throughout the novel he grows up a lot and learns that he has to actually deal with his issues - he can't ignore them and shove them in a closet forever. For a long time he has lied about his mom's disease and tried to hide it. When it starts spiraling out of control to the point where it effects his little sister, he finally realizes he can't keep hiding it and does the right thing.
This author is really really talented and has a knack for creating realistic characters that you really grow to care about throughout the book. She also creates diverse characters of different backgrounds and ethnicities without making it feel like non-white people are thrown in as token characters. I've read all of her books now and love most of them. She's definitely on my auto-buy list at this point. :)
4 of 5 stars.
Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/411386035
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