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This Beautiful Lifeby Helen Schulman |
Arlene Almas (09/22/11): The Bergamot family seems almost perfect:
mother, father, son, daughter; the parents are loving and attentive to their children. Jake,
a teenager, has lots of friends, and one night attends an unsupervised wild party at the home
of an eighth-grade girl. The young girl, Daisy, tries to draw Jake into a sexual situation,
but he is reluctant. Later that night, Daisy sends Jake a sexually explicit video, and Jake,
tired, drunk, and confused, forwards it to his best friend. The scandal which follows shocks
the entire family out of their previously beautiful life and into a grim struggle to try to
save Jake's and the family's future. The author has captured the challenging technological
reality of our time, and the dangers it presents to even good, well-loved kids.
Rating: ****
