While I do believe that the stories of Rosie and Skate would have been the same with or without their drunk father, I still liked how the story turned out. I felt sometimes during the alternating viewpoints like "and what does her drunk father have to do with this? What role does his drunkenness play in this?" because I just felt that that was just thrown in there. This story covered more of their own personal issues that didn't include or was influenced by their father until the very end. It was when their feelings switched on their last visit to him when I finally understood more in that aspect.

Good storyline, good writing, and relatable characters. All in all, it was favorable. ( )

Another book that wasn't what I was expecting.

I love Jersey beaches/boardwalk. In fact, I just got back yesterday from a vacation in Wildwood, south of Jersey shore. I liked the idea of sisters that live there all year round. So I grabbed it.

I wasn't that impressed, though. It's a really short book, but I had a hard time reading it. It was slow. Not much seemed to happen besides the sisters having boy problems and avoiding each other. They only thing that really stood out was that Skate was melodramatic and Rose was a bit of a softie.

It wasn't a bad read. It was good writing and some interesting side characters. But the storyline was slow and not all that interesting to me and the sisters were a little too cliche. Others may like it, others who don't need romance and something happening as much as I do, but it just wasn't for me.

Rosie is a high school sophomore and her sister Skate (real name Olivia) is a year older. Rosie is boyfriendless and Skate’s boyfriend, Perry, just went off to Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ. She’s actually living with Perry’s mother, Julia. Rosie is living at home with her aunt Angie. You see, Rosie and Skate’s mother died when they were tiny and their dad is an alcoholic who was just arrested for shoplifting. Rosie goes to group counseling meetings but Skate doesn’t. Yes, very complicated!

Skate’s a free bird, dresses funky, rides her skateboard everywhere, somewhat more worldly than Rosie. Rosie’s quiet, reserved. Rosie’s got a crush on Gus, who leads the meeting, but it appears that Nick, another group member likes Rosie.

Rosie and Skate by Beth Ann Bauman outlines how the girls react to their life over a period of about six months. They both have parent problems. They both have boyfriend problems. Chapters alternate between Rosie and Skate narrating. The book is very readable, but also very predictable. Rosie and Skate are likeable characters as are some of the secondary characters like Frank and Nick. You’ll definitely identify with the boyfriend/girlfriend going off to college/long distance romance thing or the wishing you had a boyfriend thing. ( )

Set on the Jersey Shore, .Rosie and Skate recount one year of their life in high school. in alternating chapters. Their father is in jail, Skate's boyfriend is in college and has no time for Skate and Rosie is developing a relationship with a boy in her support group for children of alcoholics. ( )

This is a character driven story about two sisters coming to terms with their alcoholic father, while at the same time growing up. There really isn't a lot of plot here, so if you're someone who needs plot, you're probably not going to like this. But if you're someone who enjoys reading about how and why a person changes, pick this up. ( )