Review: One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Release Date: May 10, 2011
Title: One for the Murphys
Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Pages: 256
Publisher: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books
Available: Barnes and Noble
From the Publisher: A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family’s love
Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she’s blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong–until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She’s not really a Murphy, but the gifts they’ve given her have opened up a new future.
I was honestly surprised at how well Hunt was able to write the internal monologue of a teenager going through hell. My reaction to it was different from most books. Ordinarily, I become the characters I’m reading about (in my head at least). And no, I’m not crazy.
But that didn’t happen with Carley. I saw Carley. I felt her pain, but it was not internalized as reading a character would normally be. Hunt made me see Carley as a separate being; someone hurting and in need of love, compassion, and for something good to happen in her life.
I even shed a few tears.
But you’ll have to read it yourself to find out if they were good tears or bad ones.
And trust me, if you like Contemporary YA, you should read this one.
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