Seeking Rachel

(I picked up this book because the cover made me laugh. Sometimes the best books are the ones you just find and pick up…)

Rachel’s finished. Finally.
High school has been one big pain in the butt after another, and though everyone else is happy to be moving on, getting on with their lives, Rachel has no idea what she wants to do with hers. I mean, she knows a lot of things, but what she wants to do with herself isn’t one of them. So, she skips out on deciding. A chance meeting with an attorney she met during graduation nets her a job caring for a brain-damaged woman named Grace. Of course Rachel can do the job for the summer, and doing it while going to school – no sweat. Rachel can do anything. What she lacks is maturity — and with it, compassion that would help her make this more than just a job.

It turns out that living Grace’s life for her – getting her fed, dressed, washed and to bed is harder than anything Rachel has done — harder emotionally, even, than she thought it would be. Her Evil Sisters, Charity and Brioney are both hilarious and sinister as they try to each chat Rachel up in hopes of getting more of their sister’s things. Something’s weird about all of them — and about Grace, too. Rachel delves deeper into Grace’s personal things to find out what she was like — and finds out more — and less — than she intended.

Starting college, saying dumb things to boys, and feeling that awful blush creep up her neck isn’t helping Rachel feel balanced, professional and smart like she thought she’d be. But it turns out that Finding Grace means finding Rachel, too. And maybe Grace wasn’t ever really lost.

An unusual book that crosses easily as an interesting adult novel as well.