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Pearl

by Jo Knowles (Goodreads Author)

3.51 of 5 stars 3.51 · rating details · 384 ratings · 93 reviews

Bean (née Pearl) and Henry, misfits and best friends, have the strangest mothers in town. Henry’s mom Sally never leaves the house. Bean’s mom Lexie, if she is home, is likely nursing a hangover or venting to her friend Claire about Bean’s beloved grandfather Gus, the third member of their sunny household.

Gus’s death unleashes a host of family secrets that brings them all...more

Hardcover, 216 pages

Published July 19th 2011 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

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May 12, 2011 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finished reading an advance copy of this YA novel on an airplane heading home from IRA, quietly wiping tears from the corners of my eyes and hoping the lady next to me wouldn’t notice. If she did, though, it would have been okay… I’d just have to tell her about PEARL.

Its author, Jo Knowles, is someone I’m lucky enough to count as a friend. She’s one of the smartest, kindest people I’ve ever met, and I loved her first two books, so I wasn’t surprised when this one crept quietly up and swept me...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Kirsten rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teens

I've read Knowles' books before, and like the others, this time I wasn't disappointed. Pearl is a quirky, tragic read with (yes, let's face it) a pearl at the end of the tunnel. Like Lessons from a Dead Girl, it was a very quick read that left me wanting more. Knowles has a fantastic writing style and a knack for writing provocative and flawed characters. The characters reminded me almost of Susan Patron's "The Higher Power of Lucky", though I didn't really care for that book as much as I did th...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Melanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-literature, friends, interpersonal-relationships, mothers-daughters, parent-child, grandparents, death, grief, family-tragedy, families, mothers-sons, lesbians, lgbtq, single-parent-families, teen-pregnancy

Bean, aka Pearl, and Henry are best friends. Have been since they were 7 and met at the local MiniMart. Both are children of single moms; both have dads that have never been around. Neither mother will talk about these absent fathers.

Bean lives with her mother and grandfather whom she calls Gus. There has always been tension in her house but she has never known why. Gus seems to hate Lexie, his daughter and Bean's mother, and Lexie doesn't seem to have much use for him. Bean is very close with G...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Jen (A Reading Daydreamer) added it

When I first saw the cover, I honestly thought it was a high fantasy or something. But I was way off! It’s actually a contemporary. For me, this type of contemporary wasn’t for me. This also isn’t your typical contemporary YA novel.

It was very simple, and an easy read. I think that middle grade readers could read this book too, but it was honestly boring. I didn’t see a point in the book, I mean most contemporary books don’t have points in them, but Pearl just seems especially pointless. It was...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ncbla

As I read this title, I started thinking that the lives of Pearl Collatti and her best friend Henry are more than a little bit like the soap opera, Days of Our Lives, to which his mother is addicted. As in most soap operas, the characters have secrets that,once revealed, will change the world around them in good and not so good ways. Both Pearl and Henry know next to nothing about their missing-in-action fathers, and the truth about Pearl's father only comes out after her grandfather's unexpecte...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Jeni Bell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bean’s life is beginning to feel like the episodes of ‘Days of Our Lives’ that she and her best friend, Henry, and his mother, Sally, watch every day each summer over a shared bowl of Doritos.

For years, she and Henry have bonded over the mystery of why their fathers left them and their mothers behind. Bean’s father left before she was born; Henry’s when he was just a baby. They don’t find many answers from their mothers. Sally, Henry’s mother, hasn’t left the house since Henry’s father ditched t...more Bean’s life is beginning to feel like the episodes of ‘Days of Our Lives’ that she and her best friend, Henry, and his mother, Sally, watch every day each summer over a shared bowl of Doritos.

For years, she and Henry have bonded over the mystery of why their fathers left them and their mothers behind. Bean’s father left before she was born; Henry’s when he was just a baby. They don’t find many answers from their mothers. Sally, Henry’s mother, hasn’t left the house since Henry’s father ditched their life together; Bean’s mother won’t even say Bean’s father’s name. When they were small, “Henry and I had been pretty satisfied with the stories we’d concocted about our dads. Mine was a pilot who disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. Henry’s had been kidnapped by terrorists,” Bean says in Jo Knowles’ new young adult novel, ‘Pearl.’

But the secrets both their mothers have kept from them begin to unravel when Bean’s grandfather, Gus, who lives with Bean and her mother, dies.

Bean is confused when her mother seems almost relieved by Gus’ death, and when her mother’s best friend, Claire, practically moves into their home afterward (”It’s like they’re 12 and having a stupid pajama party”). She aches to know why the grandfather who taught her how to fish, cut her food into tiny pieces when she was younger so she wouldn’t choke, and once gifted her with the pearl earrings he’d given Bean’s grandmother for their 10th wedding anniversary could barely summon a kind word for Bean's mother, yet bought a Powerball ticket every Tuesday, hoping to fulfill her mother’s dream of owning a restaurant. And will the secrets that Bean's mother and Sally have been hiding threaten to destroy Bean’s relationship with Henry—just as she is beginning to feel something more than friendship for him? (“He slowly reaches for my hand. In the dark, I can just make out the shadow of our hands together. I feel a slow warmth spread up my arm. It feels foreign and familiar at the same time,” Knowles writes in ‘Pearl.’)

‘Pearl’ is riveting not only for the plot twists that take Bean on a soap opera-style roller coaster ride the summer after she turns 15, but also for the vein of emotional truth that runs throughout this novel. As Bean struggles with the changes that her grandfather’s death has brought forth in everyone who is close to her (“Everything—everyone—is changing. Literally. And while they may look happy, I’m not sure it’s for the better”), and as she grapples with the painful truth behind her grandfather’s relationship with her mother, readers in their teens and older will identify with Bean’s sense of loneliness, confusion, and overwhelming desire to belong. They will recognize the moments in their own lives when they’ve wondered whether “bad turning into something good” is an impossible wish. And they’ll read the scenes that explore the sweetness of first love and recognize the joy and uncertainty that surround moments such as these (“Henry looks surprised and scared. It’s sort of like looking into a mirror because he looks exactly the way I feel,” Bean says).

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Sep 28, 2011 Reading Teen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'll start out by saying that this isn't really my type of book. I don't read a lot of contemporary, especially books that deal with issues, because, frankly, they depress me. And this book definitely had a sad tone to it, but it was also very sweet. I quickly read through the 224 pages, eager to find out how Bean (Pearl), Henry, Sally, and Lexie would resolve the years of tension, heartache, lies, betrayals, and shattered dreams.

Jo Knowles is a fantastic writer who makes you really feel the sto...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Melanie Goodman added it

Pearl (aka Bean) and Henry are the best of friends. Having grown up as social outcasts in a small town, they have only each other to turn to when times get tough. For Bean and Henry, times are pretty much always tough. As the children of eccentric single mothers, life is often messy and complicated. Bean’s mom spends most of her time hungover and complaining about her father with her best friend Claire. Henry’s mom doesn’t leave the house, afraid that if she goes out, she might miss Henry’s fath...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Quietly compelling, Pearl is one of those stories that gives us just a few frames in the moving picture of one particular character's life, pulling us into Bean's world quickly for a couple brief moments of conflict before we are released back into our own lives. While there is certainly drama, it never crosses the line into melodrama but rather remains engagingly intimate, as though we alone are the only ones that will share in the pain, the healing, and the growth Pearl experiences regardless...more Quietly compelling, Pearl is one of those stories that gives us just a few frames in the moving picture of one particular character's life, pulling us into Bean's world quickly for a couple brief moments of conflict before we are released back into our own lives. While there is certainly drama, it never crosses the line into melodrama but rather remains engagingly intimate, as though we alone are the only ones that will share in the pain, the healing, and the growth Pearl experiences regardless of the number of people who will actually read this tale. For a short period of time we are her invisible confidantes, lending support when it's needed and wishing our fingers could fall through the pages to lace with hers as family history is brought to light in a softer way no less compelling for it's subdued delivery.

Pearl and Henry are characters to whom we instantly form a camaraderie, wanting and hoping to shield them from the difficulties of their lonely existence. Both have mothers who have temporarily forgotten what it means to raise a child, retreating so deeply into the trivialities of their own lives they leave no time for the inclusion of their flesh and blood. As we see them both through Pearl's eyes, we feel both anger and sadness, willing them to see how their smallest actions or inactions have the most profound effect on their children. For their part, Pearl and Henry take their mothers in stride, their familiarity with the detachment disheartening but the strength of their bond and the support system they've built with one another enough to bring a wistful smile to our faces.

The evolving relationships between all the characters are a pleasure to read, the passing of one person the catalyst for so many positive changes as new life is sparked from the literal ashes of death. The snippet of time we're given in Pearl is engaging, but it is a brief interlude that doesn't necessarily linger long in our memories once we've finished reading. It's a quick snapshot–we blink and it's over– and we find ourselves ready to move on without feeling the need to dwell on the events or replay them in our minds to make the experience last that little bit longer. Pearl is a fast, interesting read, just not one that will burn a hole on our shelves as a permanent brand to let us know it's there.

Rating: 3/5 (less)

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Jan 22, 2011 Inspired Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Review from my blog:
http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot....

I have such a hard time reviewing and rating books like this one. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a conservative reader. Thus there is certain content that I prefer not to read about. This book has some of that content which makes me hesitant to recommend it. Since I hate spoilers I'm not going to share what it is... but conservative readers beware that the family secrets that unravel although not graphic may not be for you.

That said Pear...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Kelly Hager rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pearl (who's called Bean by everyone) lives with her mom and grandfather. She has exactly two friends: Henry and his mom, Sally. After her grandfather dies, things get weird. Her mom's best friend Claire moves in and her mom is ridiculously happy all the time. It's like Bean's the only one who misses him. And it turns out that her mom's been keeping a lot of secrets from her and this is the summer they all are revealed.

I read this book in one giant gulp and completely loved it. How could I not,...more

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Sep 16, 2011 April rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: puc-engl-412-adolescent-fiction

“This morning when I left for Henry’s, Gus was sitting there reading the paper. When I stopped to say good-by to him, he looked up and sighed at me in his sad way. ‘Be good, Bean,’ he said, just like always…Now that I’m at the age my mom was when she had me, I know what he really means. Don’t be like your mother.

Pearl (aka Bean) and her lone friend, Henry, have been watching soap-opera’s for as long as either of them can remember. Both of them were abandoned by their fathers when they were young...more “This morning when I left for Henry’s, Gus was sitting there reading the paper. When I stopped to say good-by to him, he looked up and sighed at me in his sad way. ‘Be good, Bean,’ he said, just like always…Now that I’m at the age my mom was when she had me, I know what he really means. Don’t be like your mother.

Pearl (aka Bean) and her lone friend, Henry, have been watching soap-opera’s for as long as either of them can remember. Both of them were abandoned by their fathers when they were young and both have made up incredible stories as to why. (Days of Our Lives had nothing on these two.) Yet, when Pearl’s grandfather, Gus, passes away unexpectedly, and her mother’s friend, Claire, moves in, hidden and dark family secrets are brought into the light. Little did they know that being fatherless was the least of their worries!

While this book does deal with sensitive subjects such as parental abandonment and sexual orientation, it is also so over the top and soap-opera-like that I couldn’t take it seriously. The sudden and unexpected second twist was very well done, but the overall story was kind of “eh.” I can see why it would belong in YA, but it is not my favorite example of the genre so far.

I think that this is the type of book that would appeal to girls 13 and up. The character of Pearl, while not overly “girlie,” is a pretty normal representation of the average girl, personal family eccentricities notwithstanding.

It’s not teachable, but it’s fun. It’s one of those books that are read for enjoyment, with a little message of tolerance thrown in for good measure.

It was not, as you all can see, my favorite read. I didn’t devour it as quickly as the other books, but once I hit the initial twist, I couldn’t put it down. I’ll admit that the initial twist made me gasp out loud and by the time I hit the doozy of a second one, I was gripping the book so hard I’m surprised I didn’t a zillion paper cuts. But it took so long to get there! So, not bad, but the second half was far superior (although far more Soap) than the first half.
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Sep 05, 2011 June Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 15, 2012 Angie rated it 1 of 5 stars

"This book was terrible. I wish I could give it negative stars.
The plot makes no sense whatsoever and the characters are poorly developed. All of a sudden, Henry's agoraphobic mom leaves the house after 15 years of solitude and starts hanging out with Bean's mom? And Bean's Mom never gave any indication she was gay for 15 years?

I understand that Bean's mom, Lexie, was putting on an act for Gus, and when he died, it was time to be herself. But not just the next day. And if this Claire was her par...more

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Jun 09, 2011 pearl marked it as to-read

Shelves: my-name

I want to read this for (very) superficial reasons.

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Aug 03, 2011 Dodie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jo Knowles packs a lot into this story of two best friends, their strange families, and the way that love changes and disrupts life. Pearl goes by the pet name of Bean, and spends most of her free time with neighbor Henry. Both bored with the slow pace of life in a dying town, they spend time on the couch with Henry's homebound (by choice) mother watching soap operas. Bean's mom Lexie is a hardworking (and hard drinking) waitress who seems to resent having Bean and grandfather Gus to take care o...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Dolores rated it 4 of 5 stars

On the surface this was very different from Knowles' other books. Both "Lessons from a Dead Girl" and "Jumping Off Swings" were hard-hitting, wrenching books. This one was a much lighter touch. The story of a very dysfunctional family dealing with the loss of a member. The two members left, Mom and daughter Pearl don't have a lot in common and haven't spent a lot of time together. I've read lots of books that are similar. There is a lot more going on beneath the surface of this one, but ultimate...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Chelsea N rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 27, 2013 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Meet Pearl. Or as everyone calls her, Bean. She and her best friend Henry both live in dysfunctional families. Bean lives with her mother who has a drinking problem and her grandfather. Henry lives with a mother who is afraid to go out. They are pretty used to the ways things are going but that is all about to change. When Bean’s grandfather dies, Bean is devastated but her mother seems to have been freed from a burden. As the family secrets start to come out, Bean doesn’t know what to believe a...more

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May 14, 2011 Christi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

Review from my blog: http://christitheteenlibrarian.blogsp...

As soon as I found out about this book (I believe through the YA Contemps website), it was on my list, which is obvious, if I'm planning on reading all of the YA Contemps books. But, after reading Jumping Off Swings and my #2 MAHROAT, Lessons From a Dead Girl, I knew it was an absolute must-read. And after reading Pearl, it's official: I have a fan-girl crush on Jo Knowles.
But enough about me, on to the book. Pearl, our main character...more Review from my blog: http://christitheteenlibrarian.blogsp...

As soon as I found out about this book (I believe through the YA Contemps website), it was on my list, which is obvious, if I'm planning on reading all of the YA Contemps books. But, after reading Jumping Off Swings and my #2 MAHROAT, Lessons From a Dead Girl, I knew it was an absolute must-read. And after reading Pearl, it's official: I have a fan-girl crush on Jo Knowles.
But enough about me, on to the book. Pearl, our main character, is 15 (the same age her mom was when she got pregnant with her) and more commonly known as Bean (she thinks because her grandpa, Gus, hates her given name). Bean is the definition of social outcast. Mom Lexie wants nothing to do with her, but Gus is the most doting grandfather a girl could ask for. He does what he can to make up for Lexie's shortcomings--and then has no problem letting Lexie know that she has shortcomings. It's a tense household.

So it's no wonder that Bean and Henry become friends at a young age. Henry has his own home problems--Dad left when Henry was a baby and mom Sally hasn't left the house in years. I'm telling you, my heart was constantly breaking for these two kids, but at the same time, I was so grateful that they managed to find each other, and were smart enough to hold on to that friendship for all these years.

So the pair are sweltering through the summer, watching soaps with Sally and listening to Gus and Lexie argue--nothing out of the ordinary. Until Gus dies and Bean's world gets turned upside-down. Lexie's best friend since childhood, Claire, arrives to help out, and in a weird twist, the pair take Sally, Henry's mom, on as a pet project. No one seems to be grieving the loss of Gus, the only father figure in Bean's life, and no one seems to remember Gus as the loving grandfather she knew him to be. Bits and pieces of her mom's past get revealed, and Bean is shocked to discover that the Gus she knew and loved was not the same Gus her mother knew at all.

Jo Knowles has a gift for telling a story,a nd creating characters that we love, or love to hate. I read this book in less than two hours. The chapters are the perfect length--not too long, not too short, and at natural breaks in the story. And I loved the relationship between Henry and Bean! It was so innocent and pure, but with that tiny hint that it might, someday, be more. Really, their friendship is all the pair has.

Claire was the perfect antagonist, although by the end of the book I had a new appreciation for her behavior. Still, none of what happened was Bean's fault, and although I empathized with Claire, I still really disliked the way she treated Bean.

The moms were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Bean's mom, Lexie, was either out at her job, or out doing who-knows-what with who-knows-who. By comparison, Henry's mom, Sally, never leaves the house. Both moms had their faults--I get that Lexie had Bean when she was only 15, and wasn't ready to be a mom, but guess what? You are. You should try acting like it sometime. And Sally just needs to get out of her dream world. After fifteen years, it's a pretty safe assumption that her husband isn't coming back. Get off the damn couch, woman!

But I saved the best for last--Gus. Oh, how Bean loved Gus, and I loved Bean's Gus, too. But learning about Lexie's Gus caused my love to falter a little, as did Bean's. Will she be able to reconcile the Gus she loves with the Gus she never knew? And I felt cheated (as Bean did) that we never got to meet the grandmother. I felt that if she was around, this story would have had a completely different outcome.

Pearl is such a wonderful story. I hope you all put it on your to-read lists when it comes out this summer! And now I'm off to find out if Jo Knowles will be anywhere in the New Jersey area anytime soon, so I can stalk her meet her in person.

A note on the cover: I love it. Simple and understated, but meaningful. I hope they leave it just like this for the final product!

ARC received as part of a Banned Books Tour (thanks, Jen Bigheart!)(less)

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Jul 27, 2011 Joy (joyous reads) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Pearl and Henry practically grew up together. From not fitting in among kids of their own age, to not ever knowing their fathers, they’re kindred spirits who promised to never let the other grow old lonely. And maybe their absent fathers was the shared ground that bonded them together, or maybe it was from having a couple of mothers who seem to be more involved in their own dramas rather than raising their kids. Regardless of what it was, theirs was a relationship on the brink of something more....more Pearl and Henry practically grew up together. From not fitting in among kids of their own age, to not ever knowing their fathers, they’re kindred spirits who promised to never let the other grow old lonely. And maybe their absent fathers was the shared ground that bonded them together, or maybe it was from having a couple of mothers who seem to be more involved in their own dramas rather than raising their kids. Regardless of what it was, theirs was a relationship on the brink of something more.

Henry’s mother hasn’t left the house since his father disappeared and Pearl’s mom can only deal with her only if she’s had enough alcohol in her system. Really, the only people in Bean’s life she could count on aside from Henry was Gus, her grandfather. But when he died in his sleep, Pearl’s sad life slowly unravels, exposing secrets that threatened everything she’d come to know, including her relationship with Henry.

This is one of those books that should’ve reduced me to tears. But oddly enough, I didn’t feel anything at all. The characters weren’t able to reach me. I couldn’t feel pity. I was just reading for the sake of finishing a book I started.

There was nothing wrong with the writing, or the plot (I wouldn’t know how to crit those, anyway). I review books mainly to say whether or not I liked what I just read. There was just something that missed the spot here and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

The friendship between Bean/Pearl & Henry wasn’t able to convince me that they were the best of friends. Half the time, I felt some indifference with these two. It was like watching a couple of actors who were playing a part…actors who has no chemistry on screen. I couldn’t feel a trifle of pity for Pearl’s mother. I thought she was selfish throughout the book. Sally (Henry’s mother) was slightly better but not so much. Her life was sad though. Soap operas, Doritos and a couch and you’ve got yourself a peek at a day in the life of Sally.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this book. I might’ve read the synopsis when I added it on my To-Read shelf but I certainly did not expect this reality.
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Aug 02, 2011 Madison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Pearl was not the book I thought it was going to be. This was not a bad thing, it was just unexpected. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading Pearl, but I wasn't expecting contemporary fiction, which is what Pearl turned out to be. Now, contemporary fiction isn't usually my thing, but I still really enjoyed this story.

I guess Pearl was full of surprises because the first thing that I thought when the book came in my mailbox was: Wow, this is a really thin book! With only a lit...more

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Apr 22, 2011 Jacinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

When I first added Pearl to my to be read list, I initially thought it was a paranormal read without reading the summary. The cover of Pearl is deceiving since Pearl isn’t a supernatural read whatsoever…it’s contemporary. I have to remind myself all the time to not judge a book’s pages by it’s cover.

Pearl is a story about two very flawed, imperfect, and dysfunctional families, dysfunctional may be an understatement. Many secrets and lies are hidden among both families who are connected by Henry...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is really fast read for me. I was able to easily step in to the story cause of the major drama going on. The plot line of this book is simple yet significant.Lots of secrets, floating around revealing themselves one by one that you are hooked on it like a Spanish novella.

I love the main character Bean. She demanded answers and got them. Even though they weren't what she expected she handle it the best that she could. She knew her mother held secrets, she just never thought it would af...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Bean and Henry have a lot in common. They are both 15 and have no other friends. They both have crazy moms. They both have no father around and both their worlds are about to become more dramatic than the soap opera that they watch with Henry's mom.

It is summer and Bean is hanging with Henry when she gets the phone call to come home. Upon arriving home, her young, single and slightly off-center mom tells her that her beloved grandfather, whom they live with, has died. Now, Bean's mom and her gr...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Realteenreviews rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Gist
Pearl a.k.a Bean isn't the most sociable person in the world. She has only ever made one friend in her lifetime, Henry, who happens to live across the street. Pearl, like most teenagers, has troubles with her mom but she especially has troubles with her mom's friend Claire. The only person in the house that Peal can tolerate is her grandfather Gus. He is always there for her when she needs someone to talk to or if she needs someone to go fishing with. That is until one morning Pearl dis...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: blog

Originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing.

Pearl by Jo Knowles is a hard book for me to review, because honestly, I didn't feel much while reading it, and there's just... not much to it. It's not a bad book, but it's not really a good one either.

Pearl (aka Bean) and Henry are best friends (well, only friends, really). They've always lived near each other, both understand and love each other (and is it going to be love too?!?!) and they both have mommy/daddy issues. Hen...more Originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing.

Pearl by Jo Knowles is a hard book for me to review, because honestly, I didn't feel much while reading it, and there's just... not much to it. It's not a bad book, but it's not really a good one either.

Pearl (aka Bean) and Henry are best friends (well, only friends, really). They've always lived near each other, both understand and love each other (and is it going to be love too?!?!) and they both have mommy/daddy issues. Henry's mom hasn't left the house in years and is still stuck on the fact that her husband walked out on her and Bean's mom is often drunk or ranting to her best friend about her dad, whom Bean and her mom live with, because Dad has never been part of the picture.

If I remember right, fantasies about their fathers are what initially really bonded Henry and Bean. They use to imagine what their fathers must really be like, what life would be like if they hadn't left, and they created these elaborate justifications for why such a good man would walk away from his family. But they are solid friends, always there for each other and willing to offer whatever support and love is necessary. And after Bean's grandfather dies, she needs a lot of support, especially when secrets start spilling out of the woodwork.

Honestly, this is not a novel I can imagine recommending to very many people. There's nothing overtly wrong with the book, but there isn't a whole lot going right either. The characters are a bit flat, the story line becomes predictable in it's SHOCKness and the secrets that start to come out after the death of Grandfather Gus feel barely better than a gimmick.

The way the story is told, most of the real meat of the story is so wrapped up in secrets that you can't really talk about anything without some serious spoilers. And sometimes, that works amazingly well for a story. But other times, like here, it makes things too muddy and unbelievable, leaving the reader scratching their heads saying, really? You had to do that too? And while some of the character reaction to the new information is incredibly believable and realistic, some of it is not. I had a hard time believing a lot of what was going on in the story, but more than anything else, I just didn't care.

And that, more than anything else says a lot about this book. Nothing made me care, nothing affected me emotionally, or really captivated me. It's (thankfully) a really short book, so it didn't take long at all, but the book fell short for me on a number of levels. I can see where some people might like this one a lot more than I did, and I hope that those people find it. But for anyone new to Contemporary, or not sure if it's really the right genre for you, I'd recommend either giving this one a pass altogether, or setting it on the back burner until you have more Contemporary under your belt. (less)

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Jan 11, 2011 Princess Bookie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, read2011

My Thoughts: I didn't know if I'd enjoy Pearl when I started it. I was unsure about it. I liked it quite a bit. We are introduced to Bean aka Pearl and her best friend Henry. They have been best friends since the age of 7 and they are now 15 years old. Both of their dads left them when they were young so they have bonded over that. They tell each other everything. We also meet Henry's mom Sally and Bean's grandfather Gus, her mother Lexie, and her mother's friend Claire.

Bean and Henry have made...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Bookworm1858 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemps-challenge, read-2011, ya-read

Some spoilers-I mean it!

I chose to read this book because it is part of the Contemps challenge; that is also the main reason I finished this book besides its short length because I really didn't like most of the characters.

Bean, born Pearl, lives with her mother and grandfather, the two often at odds. Bean is lonely with a mother, Lexie, who seems indifferent to her and a grandfather, Gus, who tries but can't fill the place of a mother in her heart. Her best friend is Henry, who lives with his m...more Some spoilers-I mean it!

I chose to read this book because it is part of the Contemps challenge; that is also the main reason I finished this book besides its short length because I really didn't like most of the characters.

Bean, born Pearl, lives with her mother and grandfather, the two often at odds. Bean is lonely with a mother, Lexie, who seems indifferent to her and a grandfather, Gus, who tries but can't fill the place of a mother in her heart. Her best friend is Henry, who lives with his mother as his father abandoned them when Henry was young. After her grandfather suddenly dies, Lexie seems to feel liberated and Bean begins to wonder about her history.

Where to start? I found Bean rather annoying with her mopey and boring self. She was also very melodramatic. There were a couple of times where she was mad at her mom, then they seemed to calm down, and then she was screaming again. I hated those up and down, roller-coaster scenes. I guess a fifteen-year-old can be very dramatic and it's not like Bean has had good examples of personhood from the people around her. But I just didn't like her.

Then it turns out that Lexie is gay, which is why her father hated her, and her best friend Claire has been her girlfriend all these years. As soon as the grandfather dies, Claire is right there, stepping into Bean's life with absolutely no warning to Bean and often acting like an evil stepmother, trying to lay claim to Lexie. Now, Lexie is not a good mother and we've seen no inkling that she has any idea how to parent but it is still baffling to me how she moves Claire in without ever talking to Bean. I'm pretty sure it's a basic rule of parenting that the kid comes first. That's not to say that Lexie doesn't deserve happiness but she is supposed to think of her child at least some of the time. These women were 30 and in many ways they still acted like incredibly immature teenagers. So that's why I hated Lexie and Claire.

At the beginning Gus seems really nice but as the story unfolds we read about his prejudiced reaction to his daughter's queerness, which is full of so much hate. This opens another facet of his personality and helps explain some of Lexie's actions. It doesn't quite explain why Lexie didn't work harder to get away from him permanently. Another character who I liked at the beginning was Sally, mother of Henry, who I thought was an agoraphobe but who does end up leaving the house easily in support of Bean and then sort of becomes friends with Lexie and Claire. However she ends up almost collapsing in on herself in another extremely dramatic outburst.

One character I didn't hate was Henry...but that was mostly because he didn't seem to have a personality; he was there but he was easily forgettable.

One last thing I hated was the depiction of An Affair to Remember as some great romantic movie. I happen to think that it is one of the least romantic movies ever and I adore Cary Grant movies as he's my favorite actor and he makes everything better. But not this one. In Affair Deborah Kerr is hit by a car and becomes paralyzed. Instead of telling the man she loves and wants to marry that she's undergone this huge life change, she hides from him. He deserved to know! And if she had told him right away, and he accepted this change as part of "for better or for worse," then it could have been romantic. Or he could have fled, proving his true colors. But instead she hides from him for months and never displays any intention of telling him until he figures it out! What's romantic about not trusting the person you claim to love to know such a big thing about you? S/he should be able to handle every aspect of you (except for things that are your fault such as cheating). Ugh, I hate that movie.

Overall: Not recommended; definitely my least favorite of the Contemps Challenge.(less)

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Apr 05, 2013 Jacquie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Jo Knowles

Hi! I'm the author of Living With Jackie Chan (coming Sept. 2013), See You At Harry's, Pearl, Jumping Off Swings, and Lessons From A Dead Girl. I support libraries and independent booksellers. If you'd like to purchase one of my books, please consider doing so through a local independent bookseller. You can find one near you by going to www.indiebound.org Or, you can ask your local library to purc...more

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