Get Real

by Betty HicksRoaring Brook Press; $16.95

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In Get Real, 13-year-old Dez is something of a neat freak. She wonders how she can be related to the three most un-neat people she knows. Of course, her best friend, Jil (an adoptee), has picture-perfect parents. When Jil inadvertently learns her birthmother’s identity, Dez is drawn into the chaos that ensues—and forced to sort through her relationship with her own parents. Meanwhile, Jil learns that “Real is raising you. Teaching you to tie your shoes. Holding your head when you barf. Knowing your favorite ice cream. Knowing you.” This fun read is the fifth book from Betty Hicks, an adult adoptee.

I’m sure the time will come when my daughter, Natalie, wants to find out more about her birthmother. All that we were told, beyond a few details listed in a file, is that she was very beautiful, in an exotic way. When Natalie asks, I’ll give her my blessing and my assistance. Until then, I’ll remind her that she gets her beauty from her birthmother…but that I’m the one who knows her favorite ice cream.

Reviewed by Kay Marner, a mother by birth and adoption, who works at the public library in Ames, Iowa.

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