Author: Miranda Kenneally
Series: Hundred Oaks #2
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire (October 1, 2012)
Length: 256 pages
Format: paperback
Description from Goodreads:
Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.
Now Parker wants a new life.
So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?
But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?
My Thoughts:
After reading Catching Jordan I couldn't wait to read Stealing Parker. That said, I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Parker has had a pretty tough time of things lately. Her mom came out as a lesbian, her softball and church friends started talking about her behind her back and spreading rumors, her dad is oblivious, and brother is always drunk or high. What does Parker do? She quits softball, loses 20 pounds, and makes out with oodles of guys. Things change when she becomes the manager for the baseball team and meets the young and sexy new coach Brian. I didn't really understand the relationship between these two. Parker is a smart girl (she's the valedictorian) and knows what she is doing is wrong. Then there is Brian. He is 23-24 years old and clearly knows that dating a student is out of the question... he does it anyway. I guess I was looking for why he would do this, but his reasons were only hinted at. I would have liked more information about them.The teacher student relationship was an interesting part of the story though and overall it was pretty good. Drew, Parker's best friend and Corndog/Will are the other two main guys in Parker's life. One of the things that I liked most about them is that they acted like "real people". At times they were mean, self-centered, and judgemental. They didn't fall into either the perfect or absolutely horrible supporting character role. Drew is her best friend, on the baseball team and the one who got her the manager's position. He is the one person who stayed by her side after her mom came out. However, he is hiding something and once he reveals his "secret" he acts like a child, not a senior in high school. Corndog was sweet, but I wish we had more interaction between him and Parker. Their storyline seemed a little forced and hard to believe in the end.
Stealing Parker had a good concept, but there were just so many things going on that you don't really get to see a definitive resolution to any of them. There was Parker's turbulent relationship with her dad, the pettiness and animosity between her, Laura, and their church, her relationship with Brian and the aftermath, her relationship with Drew, her relationship with her mom, and finally her weight issue. They were sort of left hanging for me. None of these were really played out in detail. In other words...I wish the book had been longer. One of the things I loved best about Stealing Parker was getting glimpses of the characters I loved from Catching Jordan. Sam Henry! He is the best and you can tell he is such a sweet guy from the little glimpses we see of him. Stealing Parker was good, but not great. Still, I hope to see more stories from Hundred Oaks (or (I wish) maybe even a Catching Jordan college years). Stealing Parker gets 3 STARS.
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