Parenthood (Book Review: Odd Mom Out, Jane Porter)

I didn't think I would like Jane Porter's "Odd Mom Out," because I thought I would not be able to relate to the story, which is that of a single mother trying to balance raising a nine year old child, and running her own business. But Jane Porter is such a great writer that you will instantly be swept in the story. She created a likeable, and relateable character in Marta, the narrator here. She is just a little different from all the other moms, and her daughter is nine going on twenty sic. You feel her angst as she tries to deal with her daughter trying hard to befriend the popular girls in school (and mostly failing) and you root for her even as she gets dealt with multiple blows of disappointment. And there's even a cute love angle as she meets a too-good-to-be-true love interest only to find that he is good enough to be true. When the novel ended, I was very sad to let the characters go. Even though the book is a bit outdated (it was written in 2007 and MySpace was still the social network of choice) it's easy to overcome that. 

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