The Accidentals
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4.4 • 10 Ratings
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- £3.49
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- £3.49
Publisher Description
Never ask a question unless you’re sure you want the truth.
I’ve been listening to my father sing for my whole life. I carry him in my pocket on my mp3 player. It’s just that we’ve never met face to face.
My mother would never tell me how I came to be, or why my rock star father and I have never met. I thought it was her only secret. I was wrong.
When she dies, he finally appears. Suddenly I have a first class ticket into my father’s exclusive world. A world I don’t want any part of – not at this cost.
Only three things keep me going: my a cappella singing group, a swoony blue-eyed boy named Jake, and the burning questions in my soul.
There’s a secret shame that comes from being an unwanted child. It drags me down, and puts distance between me and the boy I love.
My father is the only one alive who knows my history. I need the truth, even if it scares me.
"A brilliant story." USA Today
"With intense, honest depictions of hope and rejection, The Accidentals will break your heart. Highly recommend." - Miranda Kenneally, author of Breathe, Annie, Breathe and Catching Jordan
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Rachel Kress has just lost her mother to cancer. Music has always been her "drug of choice," and though she has never met her famous musician father, Freddy Ricks, she has followed his career through social media. Now she's about to meet him face-to-face. Amid confusion, anger, and curiosity, Rachel allows her father into her life, which changes everything. Whisking Rachel from Florida to California, Freddy eases into fatherhood, helping Rachel prepare for her senior year transfer to Claiborne Prep in New Hampshire. The move is a blow to her loyal best friend, Haze, but Rachel finds solace in emails and phone calls from fellow rising senior Jake Willis, her Claiborne peer liaison. Further complications arise, however, when Rachel discovers she has extended family through Freddy. Self-professed "good girl" Rachel must continually adjust and rely on her maturity to guide her, especially her self-awareness and focus on forgiveness. Bowen touches on themes such as drug use, emotional and sexual abuse, and the negative effects of fame, but this romantic story is more an ode to optimism and the power and beauty of music. Ages 14 up. (Self-published.)
Customer Reviews
5 sensational stars!
The Accidentals is the emotionally poignant story of seventeen year old Rachel Kress, and the upheaval of her life after her mothers tragic passing.
Although her father has been absent throughout her life, she’s never been in any doubt of who he is. The “he” in question is grammy nominated and multi award winning rock star, Freddy Ricks. His musical presence has been the soundtrack to her childhood, but the reality of his enigma and physical presence strike notes of discord between what she thinks she knows, and the answers she still seeks.
The testament to my instant investment in this story is the result of Sarina’s flawless writing. I was immediately endeared to Rachel and the grace and bravery she exhibited at such an uncertain period in her life. The relationship between father and daughter was seamless yet fraught as they danced around the the painful decisions of the past. I felt her hesitation and curiosity and met them with my own hopeful need for her to have the happy ending she so deserved.
An additional dynamic to the story was the adorable romance between Rachel and her fellow classmate Jake. He’s sweet relief from the heaviness of home and I was grateful it gave her the reprieve to be a kid again.
With perfect pacing and development, The Accidentals is an emotionally sophisticated Young Adult debut from an author i’ve long been in adoration of.