Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
After a scandal rocks their conservative small town, 17-year-old Parker Shelton goes overboard trying to prove that she won't turn out like her mother: a lesbian. The all-star third-baseman quits the softball team, drops 20 pounds and starts making out with guys--a lot. But hitting on the hot new assistant baseball coach might be taking it a step too far...especially when he starts flirting back.
MY OPINION: **
I don't know how I felt about this book. I quite enjoyed
Catching Jordan for what it was but this one sorely disappointed me.
Catching Jordan centered around football and a female quarterback;
Stealing Parker centered around baseball and the team's female manager, Parker.
Parker used to be an amazing softball player who was on the varsity team in freshman year. However, her mom's leaving changed her and she quit the team, isolating herself from her friends and making new friends with the boys' baseball team.
Her mom left them because she realized she was a lesbian and ran off with her best friend. I liked this idea because it was unique and I had never read about a parent leaving because they realized their true selves. However, I found this entire situation uncomfortable, especially the way that Parker blamed her mom for everything. It wasn't her fault that she didn't realize that she was lesbian, especially since the entire family is very religious. The mother explains later on that she felt boxed in and that she was forced to marry a man and start a family, but in reality, she liked girls and ended up falling in love with her best friend, Theresa. While Parker explains that she doesn't care about the fact that her mother is a lesbian, and instead didn't want her to break up the family, I didn't like how she kept saying that everything was her mom's fault.
Religion played a pretty large role in this book. I am myself not a religious person and don't affiliate with any branch of religion. Usually, religion doesn't interest me in books and this one was no exception. Of course, I accept and respect all other peoples' religions but I found that aspect of this book kind of boring to be quite honest. I hated how the people at Parker's church judged her and talked about her and I wish she could have switched to Will's church by the end and gotten rid of that toxicity from her life.
People judged Parker throughout the entire novel because she is known for "fooling around" with many different boys after her mom left. She acted out or rebelled and people put false labels on her that were never truly dealt with by the end. I would have liked to see a complete apology from Corndog/Will because he basically said that she messed with all of his friend's feelings on the team, hurting Parker's feelings. She is still a virgin but a few kisses and make-out sessions here and there ruined her reputation, something that I find revolting about society in general. Nobody cares about it if it's a guy who's sleeping with a ton of girls but if a girl even kisses more than one guy, they're slut-shamed and labelled inappropriately and I hate that. No judgement against the book, of course, especially since I found the description to be quite realistic.
Parker finds herself hopelessly crushing on Brian, the new assistant coach of the team. The only catch is that he's twenty-three and she's seventeen, a pretty large age gap that became the biggest conflict of the book and their relationship. Of course, he's also a staff member and Parker's a student and a minor at that. However, they start a secret relationship after talking online, which I found pretty strange, to be quite honest. He's the adult in the situation and yet he didn't do anything to stop it. He's at fault for any consequences. SPOILER I wish that we had gotten more closure with their relationship in the end because we never got to see what happened to him after he was fired. END SPOILER To be quite honest, I was uncomfortable with their relationship, especially since he tried to do things with her that she didn't really feel comfortable with. I would have been repulsed by his entire character once he got mad at her for not wanting to go too far. Brian's character was definitely my least favorite.
Will was definitely my favorite. The story behind his nickname, Corndog, is adorable. I felt bad for him throughout the entire book because he was always sure about what he wanted whereas Parker was conflicted about her feelings. SPOILER I really hated how he told Brian that she wasn't his type and that he would never date her because it's kind of a mean thing to say about someone, whether or not they can hear you. END SPOILER However, Will was just so adorable and I loved him. I wish we had gotten more time to explore their relationship throughout the book, since most of it focused on Brian and Parker.
Drew and his character was my second favorite. I loved his storyline. Parker had several emerging suspicions about his identity and I loved how he finally was able to admit to himself and to his friends his sexual orientation. SPOILER I did not like how he played into Parker's feelings for Will, though. I get that he liked Will for years but that shouldn't have to deter Parker from dating someone, especially if Will doesn't feel the same way. Obviously, I felt bad for Drew but he got himself a new boyfriend and I think that should make Will available. END SPOILER
I loved the cameos of Sam Henry and Jordan Woods because they were so adorable. I hope the same happens with Parker and Will in the next books, though I'm not sure considering they're off to college.
I would recommend this book to readers looking for an easy, quick, fun summer read.
Main Character: Parker
Sidekick(s): Drew, Will, Brian (kind of), etc
Villain(s): Brian (kind of), age gap, misunderstandings, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: All of this could happen in real life.
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