Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

★ ★★★☆

Four/five stars
I was so looking forward to reading Stealing Parker because I really enjoyed Catching Jordan. Stealing Parker was everything I expected it to be: sporty, funny, meaningful and religious. Stealing Parker was, in my opinion, not as good as Catching Jordan. Although it was still a good read, just not my favourite of the two.

After her mother’s shock betrayal, Parker is left alone and friendless. Her church has turned its back on her family and is encouraging other people to do the same. Her “best friends” abandoned Parker in her time of need. Parker is furious at her mother for doing this to the family. People talk about how she is going to turn out like her mother: lesbian. So, Parker decides to quit softball, the one special thing that connects her to her mum, lose weight, lose the “butch” look and kiss plenty of guys. When Parker’s best friend Drew signs her up to be manager of the baseball team, Parker isn’t very happy. She hates baseball. She never used to, though, until her mum left her, then she quit her dreams of playing softball. Unfortunately, she would do anything for Drew, so she agrees and shows up to the practice. At the practice she finds out there is a new coach, and a mighty fine coach at that! He looks pretty young so what’s the harm in flirting with him? No harm done, until he stars flirting back. Parker is just happy to be talking with someone who doesn’t know her family story. But when she starts getting closer to one particular boy, does the new coach actually mean anything to her?

I liked Stealing Parker. It was “deeper” and more meaningful than Catching Jordan. Stealing Parker dealt with issues such as sexuality, religion and friendship. Even though the issues and messages were good, I still think the fun nature that Catching Jordan had was a lot better and more enjoyable.

Parker was alright as a character. She kind of annoyed me. She was self-centred and careless. She shamelessly flirted and kissed boys to try and save her lesbian “butch” reputation and never thought of the boys’ feelings. Also the parts with the new coach, Coach Brian were stupid. She was allowing herself to be taken advantage of. It was careless and stupid of her. At some points I did feel sorry for her, though. Her mum had left her and she had to grow up by herself; her father was a zombie, no help at all, and her brother was spaced out on drugs. Although, Parker didn’t even spare a thought as to what her mother was going through. Her mother made the painful, and probably not easy, decision to leave her family. At the end, Parker’s attitude vastly improved. She wasn’t thinking of herself; she was thinking of her best friend Drew’s feelings. Parker proved to be a reasonable character in the end.

In Stealing Parker, there was, sadly, a love triangle. The first boy introduced in the love triangle was Brian. Coach Brian. He was a massive dickhead. Honestly, he shouldn’t even be a teacher. He should have had the restraint and the professionalism to STOP Parker and himself. At first, I thought he was going to be alright. But he turned out to be awful. He was taking advantage of an innocent young girl; a student! It was disgusting and I really disliked him.

The other boy in the love triangle (I’m not going to tell you who… it’s a secret hehe) was sweet. I actually didn’t realise he was going to be the other love interest but when I did realised it was him, I was pretty happy. He seemed pretty nice and sweet. He looked after Parker, just like she needed someone to. He was supportive and listened to her, unlike stupid Brian. I don’t usually like love triangles, but this one wasn’t too bad. The romance was… ok.

Yet again, I had issues with the ending. I did not like the way Catching Jordan ending because it was waaaaaaay to sudden. Unfortunately, Kenneally did it again. Stealing Parker just… ended. Although, I’ll give it to Kenneally, it was a good ending nonetheless.  

Even though there were many flaws in this book, I still enjoyed Stealing Parker and will definitely be ready the rest of the Hundred Oaks series by Miranda Kenneally.