Having read LaMarche's "Like No Other", I decided to spend the points to guarantee my reading of "Don't Fail Me Now."
Again, LaMarche has taken teens with different backgrounds and thrown them together to learn that you can always find common ground regardless of your differences. "Don't Fail Me Now" told the story of Michelle Devereaux and her struggle to keep her family together. Michelle was 17 years old, but did not enjoy the carefree life that most teens do. Her days were not filled with parties or hanging out with friends, instead Michelle worked part-time at Taco Bell and took care of her younger siblings, Cass and Denny. Unfortunately, their mother was a drug user and in jail and their father had left years before, thus leaving Michelle as the responsible one in their home, making sure her siblings attended school and were fed. When we first met Michelle, she was tying to keep her siblings out of foster care and living with an aunt that was more concern with money then helping take care of her family.
As Michelle struggled to keep it together, she was thrown a curveball. Michelle's half sister, Leah showed up with the help of her stepbrother, Tim to inform her that their estranged father, Buck, was dying. prior to this Michelle had never met Leah, and only knew of her because of her parents arguments, when she was younger. Though Michelle had always dreamt of meeting her sister, once she did, she wished she hadn't. Michelle's regret at meeting her half sister was due to the fact that Leah's life was not as complicated and Michelle and her siblings' lives. Leah's mother remarried a wealthy man and Leah did not have to the same money issues as Michelle. There was also a difference due to race, Buck their father was White, and so was Leah's mother, but Michelle's mother was Black. Leah lived a very privileged life in contrast to the ones of her siblings. As much as Michelle wanted to have a relationship with her half sister, she was upset that Leah was sheltered from the issues Michelle faced.
When Tim and Leah first met Michelle, they mentioned that Buck had something of value for her. Hoping that this gift would provide her money to get her mother out of jail and pay her aunt, Michelle decided to drive cross country to California to visit Buck on his deathbed. In an act of goodwill, she invited Leah so that she could get closure as well. Leah's stepbrother, Tim, joined the road trip to help Leah.
The trip got off to a rocky start. Leah and Tim were used to traveling a certain way while Michelle was on a budget, caused a division between the siblings. However, as they travel, they work together to survive their trip. In addition to that they learn, that tough they may differ based on race and class, they have had to face similar struggles in life. They learn more about each other and begin to relate not only as friends, but also as sisters. There is even a romance that blossoms between Tim and Michelle. I have to add I had a total book crush on Tim, he was so sweet and the boy could sing.
Without giving too much away, they do make it to california, and though they lost their father, they became a family. "Don't Fail Me Now' was an enjoyable read, demonstrating that we can't always pick our relatives, but at the end of the day, they are the ones that care and love us the most.
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