by Robin Antalek

From the author of The Summer We Fell Apart, an evocative and emotionally resonant coming-of-age novel involving three friends that explores what it means to be happy, what it means to grow up, and how difficult it is to do both togetherThe summer he’s fifteen, Sam enjoys, for a few secret months, the unexpected attention of Suzie Epstein. For reasons Sam doesn’t entirely understand, he and Suzie keep their budding relationship hidden from their close knit group of friends. But as the summer ends, Sam’s world unexpectedly shatters twice: Suzie’s parents are moving to a new city to save their marriage, and his own mother has suddenly left the house, leaving Sam’s father alone to raise two sons.

Watching as her parents’ marital troubles escalate, Suzie takes on the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers and plans an early escape to college and independence. Though she thinks of Sam, she deeply misses her closest friend Bella, but makes no attempt to reconnect, embarrassed by the destructive wake of her parents as they left the only place Suzie called home. Years later, a chance meeting with Sam’s older brother will reunite her with both Sam and Bella - and force her to confront her past and her friends.

After losing Suzie, Bella finds her first real love in Sam. But Sam’s inability to commit to her or even his own future eventually drives them apart. In contrast, Bella’s old friend Suzie—and Sam’s older brother, Michael—seem to have worked it all out, leaving Bella to wonder where she went wrong.

Spanning over a decade, told in alternating voices, The Grown Ups explores the indelible bonds between friends and family and the challenges that threaten to divide them.

I think a lot of people will really enjoy this book, sadly I'm just not one of them. Most of the time I'm annoyed by comparisons between books ("if you like said book then you will like this one"). In this case if they had told me it was similar to The Interestings I most likely would have passed, since I did not like that book at all! My problem with this book, like a lot of books I read with 20 somethings in them, is that I have zero interest in the characters. I'm tired of their bad behavior, bad decisions, whining, and sense of entitlement. Maybe it's a generational thing, I'm so far removed from this time that I just don't remember it? The book takes us through more than a decade in these people's lives, with each chapter representing another year. I felt that this also distanced me from the characters since you skipped major parts of their lives when thrown back in a year later. There were some bright spots in the book that did keep me reading. It was well written, my not connecting with the characters was more a me thing. I did want to read to the end to find out how it all played out. I do think the author had a good pulse on these kids even if I didn't like their antics.

Bottom line, if you enjoy coming of age stories of the twenty something generation, I think you will enjoy this book. I would still read another work by this author, I would just be more choosy of the subject matter.

This book is part of the BookSparks summer reading challenge. Click the link for info if you want to join in!